


Mysterious Smoak

by Dark_Supernatural_Angel



Series: Felicity & the Winchesters [1]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012), Supernatural
Genre: Angst, Arrow Season 3, Dean Winchester Bears the Mark of Cain, Episode Related, Jealousy, Multi, Reunions, Secrets, Supernatural/ArrowVerse Crossover, arrow season 2, spn season 10, spn season 9
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-04
Updated: 2018-06-09
Packaged: 2019-05-17 23:24:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 38,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14841198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dark_Supernatural_Angel/pseuds/Dark_Supernatural_Angel
Summary: A collection of SPN/Arrow oneshots. These chapters can be seen as separate entries, yet they all have the same backstory in common. Think of it as each chapter being a "what if" moment for the characters yet with all chapters sharing the same backstory.Backstory:- Felicity meets the Winchesters in 2012 (reality; 2011-2012 / verse; 2012-2013) = S9 (verse; 2015-2016)- Timeline of "Arrow" is pushed forward by 2 years so the ages are the same (therefore Oliver was shipwrecked in 2009 and saved in 2014) = S2 (2015-2016)***"Arrow" Ages are the same as on the show (it's just the changes in dates that are different)Originally Published on FFN:January 24, 2014Disclaimer:I don't own the characters; those belong to their original creators. The way it's all stringed together is of my making. No profit is being made out of this.





	1. Personal Researcher (2x11 & 9x11)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Chapter Summary:** Dean just met Cain and he needs more information yet with him and Sam not speaking, who does Dean turn to for information?
> 
>  **Spoiler(s):** everything up to SPN 9x11 ("First Born") and everything up to Arrow 2x11 ("Blind Spot").  
>  **Time Frame:** At the end of the episode for both shows.
> 
>  **Inspiration:** I just couldn't help myself!

  


* * *

  **"Personal Researcher"**

* * *

"After I kill Abaddon, you're next!" Dean Winchester ruthlessly declared at the King of Hell after punching him. The hunter was outraged.

"You don't mean that. We're having too much fun." Crowley quipped.

Dean scoffed as he backed away, putting some distance between himself and the demon.

"Listen up! Even with the Blade, we're gonna need all the help we can get against Abaddon." Crowley called out before the hunter could truly shut him out. He knew his deception wouldn't bode well with the seasoned hunter and yet it needed to be done. He also needed the hunter to patch things up with his brother so that the team could take on Abaddon.

"Go find the Blade."

Crowley sighed, "It's always something with you boys, isn't it?" He sniped mostly to himself before he disappeared to the deepest parts of the ocean to find the First Blade.

Dean exhaled once he felt the tension in the air leave with Crowley's presence. He knew that he should never trust the demon king and yet doing so had led him to the only weapon that could kill Abaddon, the very demon that had killed his paternal grandfather shortly after he had time-traveled into Sam and Dean's lives.

Just the thought of killing Abaddon had brought Dean's attention down to his arm. He rolled the right sleeve up to reveal the mark that Cain had passed to him. He didn't know much about the mark before meeting Cain but Dean didn't hesitate in accepting the mark if it meant that he could kill Abaddon once and for all. As he looked down at the burned mark, Dean couldn't help but wonder what it is he had signed himself up for.

> _"I can give you the mark Dean, if it's what you truly want." Cain proclaimed as the demons swarmed the house._
> 
> _Dean's jaw dropped. "What? What are you talking about?"_
> 
> _"The mark can be transferred to someone who's worthy." Cain explained._
> 
> _Dean blinked. "You mean a killer like you?"_
> 
> _"Yes."_
> 
> _"Can I use it to kill that bitch?" Dean asked, not even wanting to dwell on the real meaning of what 'being worthy' meant._
> 
> _Cain nodded. "Yes but you have to know, with the mark comes a great burden. Some would call it a great cost."_
> 
> _Dean tucked away Ruby's knife, "Yeah, well, spare me the warning label. You had me at 'kill the bitch'." In that moment, there was no question what Dean needed and it was that mark…no matter the cost. He needed Cain's Mark in order for him to use the First Blade, the only weapon that could kill Abaddon._
> 
> _"Good luck, Dean." The hunter and the knight shook hands, "You're gonna need it."_
> 
> _"Yeah, I get that a lot. Let's dance." Dean proclaimed while squeezing Cain's hand._
> 
> _Cain quickly changed the position so that they were gripping each other's forearms before he started transferring the mark to Dean. Dark red veins emerged from Cain's mark before they spread to cross over onto Dean's arm until it stopped on the same spot where Cain's mark had been placed._

Without all the craziness with the demons, Dean couldn't help but rethink Cain's warning. He needed answers. While Crowley seemed to know about the mark (based off his reaction to it earlier), Dean didn't know whether he could truly trust any story that the demon spun on him. Sam and Castiel would have been his next options but he and Sam weren't talking at the moment and Castiel was sticking with Sam to make sure that he healed up properly. With him being on the outs with Sam at the moment, that meant that Dean didn't have access to the Bunker and its archives. It was like when Sam was at Stanford all those years ago when Dean had to hunt alone.

Seeing no other option, Dean took out his phone and clicked speed dial #7.

The phone rang twice before it was picked up. "Hey Dean," a perky voice greeted him instantly.

Dean snickered a bit for her perkiness, "Hey Fee. I need you to look something up for me."

There was a small pause between them when he didn't say anything further. He truly didn't know how to break it to her.

"Alright but did you get him?" She broke the silence instead with the simple acceptance.

Dean sighed. "I got a little side-tracked."

"Hence the research," She filled in before he could elaborate. He didn't bother though, he knew that she'd have something to say and she didn't disappoint. "Quick question but how does one get side-tracked from hunting down the man that killed Kevin and who had threatened to kill Sam? I mean the moment I was able to track down Gadreel's first vessel, you took off to catch him and now you're telling me that you got side-tracked." Once she got started, there was no stopping her. It was a quirk of hers that was both amusing and annoying.

Dean sighed, "Fee."

"I mean that isn't like you Dean," She continued, as if she hadn't heard him, "If you have a trail, you stick to it until you have exhausted every possibility there is to achieve your end goal and even aft-"

"Felicity," Dean cut in firmly. He knew that she meant well yet it wasn't the time.

Felicity sighed, "Sorry. I'll stop. What'd you need?"

"I need you to dig up everything you can find on Cain." He ran a tired hand through his hair, just waiting for the questions to start up again (which was reasonable for what he was asking).

"Cain?"

He hummed. _Wait for it._

"As in Cain and Abel?"

He hummed again yet he could hear that her breathing had picked up.

"As in _the_ Cain you are supposedly descended from?" Her voice squeaked a bit.

The hunter groaned at that bit of information; he had forgotten that fact since Michael had told him that a long time ago. "Supposedly, yes."

Her breathing picked up again, "As in the very man who committed the first human murder by killing his own brother?" She squeaked some more yet he could tell that she was on the verge of hysteria.

"Felicity, listing every known association with Cain isn't going to change the fact that I need more information on the guy!" He blurted out before she thought of another statement to throw at him.

Felicity sighed as she concentrated on calming down; he did have a point. "I know that but why Cain? For all we know he could be another myth."

"He's not." He mumbled yet he didn't say anything else. He took the time to get into Impala as his exhaustion was starting to hit him now.

"That's it," Her disbelief was evident to him, "You're not gonna tell me anything else?"

"Not over the phone."

"Right," He could hear a few fast clicks of a keyboard from her end, "When should I be expecting you then?" She was all professional again, which he respected. They could get informal with one another later.

Dean looked at the dashboard before he did a mental calculation in his head, "Is two hours good enough?" He wasn't that far away from Starling City thanks to Crowley. The demon had transported them and the impala to an isolated dock along the California coast so that Dean wasn't far when Crowley had to go searching for the First Blade.

"For me to find anything?" Felicity scoffed, "Get real but you can tell me all about it while we wait."

Dean chuckled, "Sounds fair."

The goodbyes were brief before the hunter hung up and started the engine. He had a rendezvous to make with the blonde IT girl and he didn't want to disappoint.

***SPN*Arrow*SPN*Arrow*SPN***

Felicity sighed as she placed her cell on her desk. It truly was going to be a long night for her. Thankfully, they just finished with a case so Oliver was just going to patrol the streets of Starling City.

She had only planned on verifying the Mirakuru cases with inconsistencies with Officer Daley's activity while Oliver was on patrol yet Dean had given her a challenge she didn't think she'd ever receive.

She never thought that she'd be doing research on the man that was nicknamed the Father of Murder.

It was a really good thing that Felicity was alone when she answered Dean's call. There was just no way she could have lied to Oliver if he had overheard that call…her rambles would have exposed her before she knew it was happening.

Felicity exhaled deeply as she got comfortable at her workstation.

She had a deadline to meet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Back Story:** In my head, Felicity has worked with the Winchesters before (think of her as another Charlie Bradbury, a female hacker that they befriended after a case).
> 
>  
> 
> **Disclaimer:** Any recognizable dialogue is from SPN 9x11 ("First Born").
> 
>  
> 
> **Originally Published on FFN:** January 24, 2014


	2. Comfort Call (2x13 & 9x13)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Chapter Summary:** After walking in on Oliver/Sara, Felicity needed an escape yet she had limited options in doing so. All she needed was her tablet, a bottle of wine and a call to her old friend...the one and only Dean Winchester.
> 
> **Spoiler(s):** everything up to SPN 9x13 ("The Purge") and everything up to Arrow 2x13 ("Heir to the Demon").  
>  **Time Frame:** At the end of the episode for both shows.
> 
> **Inspiration:** I just couldn't help myself!

****  


* * *

**"Comfort Call"**

* * *

Felicity was still a little on edge after she had confessed to Oliver about what she discovered about Moira. While she was slightly stunned by the level of restraint he had during the rally, she knew that all of his anger would be released back at the Foundry. So when Oliver had returned from saving Sara from Nyssa, she didn't get in his way when he went straight to beating the tire with a sledgehammer before he moved onto the wooden dummy. She left him to his anger before the sounds got too much for her. She eventually went for a walk around the basement.

She had her tablet in hand as she explored the basement for better wireless access points yet when she didn't hear the sounds of Oliver hitting the wooden dummy, she stopped and headed back.

When she finally arrived, she instantly regretted her decision to check up on him.

Apparently he was in good hands…Sara's hands.

Felicity held her tablet tightly as she quickly back-pedaled it out of there before they realized that she was there. She wanted to go home and put the day behind her. However her things were by her computers so leaving wasn't an option.

Instead she managed to find her way upstairs and into Oliver's club office without being seen. Even though Thea managed the club, Oliver had kept his office since Thea moved into Tommy's.

Once she was secure in his office, Felicity locked herself in before she placed her tablet onto the table. She raided his cupboard and found a bottle of wine and vodka. She chose the wine…she could never say no to the stuff no matter how much she needed the stronger stuff.

She settled herself down and poured herself a glass before she tapped a few buttons on her tablet.

A ringing resonated throughout the office before an image appeared on screen.

" _Well this is a surprise._ " Dean Winchester greeted through the video chat.

Felicity chuckled. "Care to have a drink with me Dean?"

Dean smirked as he looked between the glass in her hand and the glass in his own. " _It's like you read my mind._ "

She took a sip of her wine.

" _Rough day?_ "

Felicity looked right into the screen and he could see this saddened glint in her eyes. "You have no idea."

Dean nodded, as if he understood without her saying so.

"You?"

Dean chuckled yet she could tell that there was no humor behind it. " _I've had better._ " He couldn't help but think back on the latest conversation he had with his brother…which didn't end with them on the best of terms…again.

"Hmm, what a pair we make." Felicity commented offhandedly before she took another sip, "Want to talk about it?"

He looked at her, as if he was debating on whether he should unload on her. But then he looked at her more closely and thought that maybe it was something they both needed.

Dean sighed, " _You first._ "

Felicity shrugged, "Where should I begin?"

" _It's up to you. You could start from the beginning or you could go backwards._ " Dean suggested before he took a swig of his drink. " _Either way, I'm not going anywhere._ "

Felicity nodded as she took a deep breath, "I almost walked in on Oliver and Sara."

Dean blinked as it finally clicked why the usually perky blonde was so depressed, " _I think you need something stronger than wine._ "

"I'll get to it," she took a sip of her wine before she swirled it around her glass, "I've got all night to wallow and scold myself for being an idiot."

Dean sighed, " _You're not an idiot. Far from it in fact._ "

Felicity diverted her attention back to the little Skype screen on her tablet.

" _And it's his_ _loss_." Dean continued before he took a swig of his own drink, " _You deserve better. You've always deserved better._ "

Felicity couldn't help but remember how those were the same words that she had spoken to Oliver after they returned from Russia. She just wished that she could believe it when Dean told her the same thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Back Story:** In my mind Dean and Felicity met two years earlier on a case together. Also if it wasn't clear, Dean knows about Felicity's involvement with the vigilante. I just felt so bad for Felicity (I wanted to hug her) and I needed her to seek comfort from someone who understood and it just so happened that Dean and Oliver share a similar hero-complex. 
> 
>  
> 
> **Originally Published on FFN:** February 18, 2014


	3. Scars (2x14)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Chapter Summary:** [Tag on to 2x14] While Oliver/Sara were talking about her welcome back party, Diggle notices a change in Felicity's demeanor and he tries to see what's up.
> 
> **Spoiler(s):** everything up to Arrow 2x14 ("Time of Death")  
>  **Time Frame:** Shortly after the training session between Oliver/Sara/Diggle (after they share scar stories).
> 
> **Inspiration:** I just couldn't help myself! Also we learn in this episode that she can understand Latin!

****

* * *

  **"Scars"**

* * *

John Diggle joined Felicity by the computers as Oliver and Sara discussed Sara's welcome home party. He noticed how deflated she looked after Sara commented on how cute Felicity was with her scar story.

"You okay?" He quietly asked her.

Felicity sighed, "I guess I should have picked another scar story to share."

Diggle chuckled, "I wasn't aware that you had any scars to display Felicity…which is a good thing." He didn't like the idea of her skin being marred in some way.

She looked up at him with a somber look, "Just because you can't see them doesn't mean I don't have scars of my own, John."

Diggle didn't like the way that sounded. There was too much emotion behind that statement for it to be one made out of pure observation. He knew that scars weren't just physical. He had his fair share of scars, both of the physical, emotional and mental variety. It just didn't sit well with him that Felicity could be harboring an unseen scar that took more than time to heal.

"Felicity…"

She shook her head, "It's nothing. Forget I said anything." She deflected before she turned to leave.

He gently took a hold of her elbow, stopping her in her tracks. The gesture was small enough that it hadn't alerted the island alumni to their changed positions.

She turned her head and he saw in her eyes that she had brought up this protective wall that he rarely saw in her gaze. Felicity was usually so open with her thoughts and emotions and to see her with this wall, Diggle didn't find comfort in the fact that she had one like this…let alone that it's been appearing more frequently in the last few days.

"You know I'm here for you right? You can come and talk to me about anything." He reassured her and he was relieved to see her eyes soften just a bit.

But the moment she turned her head and saw the quick kiss between Oliver and Sara, he saw that softness turn to sadness before that disappeared behind the wall once again. He mentally wanted to kick Oliver for his crappy timing.

She turned to give him a small smile. "I know John. I'll always have _you_ to talk to."

The weight and truth behind her words was undeniable; since becoming part of the team, he had looked after her and he's been there for her in ways that no one else has but more importantly, _he's_ _never left her_ _behind_. In a city where she was originally alone in, he had taken it upon himself to be there for her, to be that support system that she needed. While Oliver was part of that system, Diggle took it a step further and she was truly grateful for that because no matter how crazy, confusing or hectic her life became (and it all usually revolved around Oliver), John Diggle was _always_ a constant that she _never_ had to question. He became the brother she never had. There was no confusion of mixed signals between them.

Yet despite that title and dynamic between them, she couldn't confide in him about her scars (which only a small few knew about) because doing so would turn his world upside down. It did when she first found out and he already had enough to deal with. She didn't want to burden him.

The slight squeeze at her elbow brought her out of her thoughts, causing her to look up at Diggle once again; her gaze had drifted away with her thoughts moments before.

"I lost you there for a moment," He quipped as a greeting in hopes to lighten her mood.

She snickered a bit, "I always do that without realizing it."

He chuckled a bit, "I've noticed." He stared at her for moment, as if gauging if she would bring up their previous topic on her own or if he had to do it himself.

"Can we forget that I said anything?" She asked with a sigh; she saw the look he was giving her and she knew what he wanted to hear. She was already regretting bringing up the fact that she had invisible scars of her own.

He took notice of how her posture was rigid and how her protective wall seemed to be firmly in place once again. She wasn't budging on the subject. After a few moments of internal debate, he nodded his head. He wasn't going to push her.

"For now."

At least not yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Back Story:** In my head, Felicity's mysterious scars have to do with a past that is connected to the _Supernatural_ universe.
> 
>  
> 
> **Originally Published on FFN:** March 1, 2014


	4. Solo Sparring Session (2x14 & 9x14)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Chapter Summary:** [Tag on to 2x14] Felicity takes advantage of the alone time in the Foundry to brush up on her training...with some help from a dear friend.
> 
> **Spoiler(s):** everything up to SPN 9x14 ("Captives") and everything up to Arrow 2x14 ("Time of Death")  
>  **Time Frame:** When the team is at Sara's welcome back party (before Oliver gets the call from Felicity).
> 
> **Inspiration:** I just couldn't help myself!
> 
> **NOTE:** This was originally posted as three separate parts on FFN.

* * *

  **"Solo Sparring Session"**

**Part 1**

* * *

It was Felicity's turn at the Foundry while the rest of the team attended Sara's welcome home party. It seemed like everyone else had a reasonable public connection to Oliver except for her. Diggle could go because he was Oliver's bodyguard, even though the billionaire didn't need one. Roy could go because he was Thea's date to the party and Sara…well, the party's for her so she had to go.

But Felicity…she was left alone in the basement. And she hated it.

Pushing that depressing thought aside, with no workable hits from the skeleton key searches, Felicity decided to change into her workout gear and train while she had the alone time.

Before she got to work, she grabbed her tablet and her Bluetooth piece (which she quickly connected and placed in her ear) before she typed in a few commands into her tablet. After a few short clicks, Felicity was staring at Dean Winchester thanks to the video chat she just started up.

" _You rang?_ " Dean greeted with a smirk and she noticed that he was in his bedroom back in the Kansas Bunker. He loved that bedroom.

Felicity bit her lower lip, "I was hoping that you'd be free to run another session with me."

Shortly after Felicity had met Dean at MIT a couple of years ago (she was a student, he was passing through for a visit), he started training her in self-defense. At first it was just the basics so that she could actually protect herself if anything happened to her but as things escalated around them, the lessons intensified with him teaching her more tricks and manoeuvres that helped her gain the advantage. Whenever he was in town, they would have their sessions together but after she got her degree, time just wouldn't allow her to keep up the training and things were rapidly picking up for Dean so much so that he couldn't visit her as much. Once she moved to Starling City, the training just stopped as she was overwhelmed with the move and getting settled. It was only after Diggle tried to train her did she realize that she had to pick up the old habit again and with her new access to a few technological advances (thanks to being a part of Team Arrow), Felicity figured out a way for Dean to help her train without him actually being there with her.

Video chats and surveillance cameras were the key.

Which is how they were going to have their session now; Dean was going to talk her through some drills while he monitored the surveillance footage to keep an eye on her form, footwork and technique. They didn't do this often but it seemed to work out for them so far. And if this were any other night, Felicity would just run the drills by herself but she didn't want to be alone. At least this way, she technically wasn't.

" _It looks like your suited up. Let's put you to work._ " Dean declared before they both moved around their respective spaces. Dean had moved to place his laptop onto the desk in his room while Felicity moved to stand the tablet up on the metal table near the wooden dummy. A few codes were typed in on both ends before Dean was granted access to the cameras (without the duel sequence placement, he wouldn't have access). He made the appropriate adjustments before he had many camera angles of Felicity at the wooden dummy.

And Dean didn't hesitate to give her the first drill sequence.

Their night was filled with small talk, training criticism and research checks (the only times that she took a break).

It was impressive how she could multitask like she could. Instead of it hindering her, it was helping her. By allowing her to keep a conversation with him while doing the drills and taking his pointers into consideration, he was preparing her for the real world because in a real fight, there will be distractions everywhere and she needed to learn how to take in her surroundings and use that information to her advantage. He had too much experience in his youth where he focused on one thing only to be blindsided by a move he would have seen coming if he had paid attention to everything around him. He was taking mistakes that he had learned over the years and he was teaching her how to avoid making them.

But somehow along the way in her session, she had revealed why she truly wanted a video session with him and it angered him that she felt like she did; doubtful, insecure, unwanted, expendable. It was another moment where he wished that he could be beside her instead of being all the way across the country.

* * *

  **Part 2  
**

* * *

Their session was picking up pace quite nicely. It was going so well that Dean decided to take his laptop and relocate to the Bunker's training room so that he could join in on his own training or show Felicity some new techniques for her to get used to. The Men of Letter's training room didn't have the most up-to-date equipment but what they did have was in good enough condition to use so Dean was fine with it. He was just fortunate that the room had a wooden dummy too. Once he was settled, Dean resumed to the usual routine that they had in their sessions.

Everything was going great for Felicity and Dean until her computer started to beep, causing her to pause after she had thrown the last punch. She took the opportunity to have a little water break as she checked her computers. It turned out that the police had found a lead. Quickly she moved to call Oliver (while her Bluetooth with Dean was still on) to tell him the news only for him to surprise her by saying that he was already on his way…because _Detective_ Lance (despite his demotion to officer, Felicity and the team saw him as a detective) had left the party moments before after receiving a call from work. Oliver didn't need her to fill her in, he found out through another source.

And with that phone call, her anger from earlier had returned.

She marched back to the wooden dummy and started to punch and kick at it with new ferocity and speed.

For twenty minutes she kept the speed and power in her actions before Dean finally brought it up; he figured that the energy would disappear after five minutes but instead it seemed like the energy only increased the further she progressed into the session.

" _Wow_ ," Dean whistled after he watched her work harder on one of the more difficult combinations that they were trying out earlier, " _Where is all this power coming from?_ " She was delivering punches as powerful as when they first started the session a while ago when only a moment before her water break her power had decreased due to the exhaustion her body was slowly succumbing to.

"Got a second wind in me," She declared in between punches as she executed another punch combination from earlier. "It's nothing."

" _Really?_ " The doubt was clear in his voice, " _Because it seems to me that your call to Oliver is what set you off again._ " She didn't have to say anything; he knew it had to be the call. He saw how tense her shoulders were and the angry glint in her eyes when the camera angle was just right for him to catch it.

Felicity rolled her eyes yet she didn't let up on the punches, "It's not polite to eavesdrop, Dean."

Dean scoffed, _"Are you kidding me, our jobs require it._ " He quickly pointed out and he noticed from his view from her tablet that she was trying to suppress a smile. " _So c'mon, fess up._ "

Little did they know, they had just gained an audience in the form of Sara, Oliver and Diggle.

***SPN*Arrow*SPN*Arrow*SPN***

**Moments Earlier:**

Sara, Oliver and Diggle arrived at Verdant together after leaving the welcome back party at slightly different times; they had met up while en route. They were anxious to see what Felicity and Sara's father had discovered.

Oliver quickly keyed the pass-code into the panel before the door to the basement allowed them entrance into the Foundry. They were expecting to find Felicity at her computers waiting for them but when the sound of skin hitting wood reached their ears, they all stopped their descent down the stairs. They each gave one another a confused glance.

"Roy's still at the party when you left right?" Oliver whispered to Sara because the last he saw of the teenager was beside Thea at the party.

"He was with Thea." Sara confirmed before she slowly started down the stairs again, with Oliver and Diggle shortly trailing behind her.

It was the sound of an unknown man that had them stopping again and the mention of Oliver's name had them tensing.

" _Because it seems to me that your call to Oliver is what set you off again._ " The unknown man declared loudly. His voice was clear enough to them to consider the option of said man being in the Foundry.

They quickly moved to get a closer look of the situation. The sounds of skin meeting wood and padding were still heard in a steady rhythm.

"It's not polite to eavesdrop, Dean." Felicity's voice responded, a little breathlessly, which caused the trio to falter again.

Oliver turned to Diggle as he mouthed _Dean_ to him but the former solider didn't know the name. This bothered Oliver even more.

As they reached the bottom of the stairs, they remained hidden as they spread out to see who the man was and if Felicity was in any real danger.

They heard Dean scoff while the noises continued. " _Are you kidding me, our jobs require it._ " There was a slight pause but when the trio got a view of the Foundry, they saw no man present and yet they still heard him say, " _So c'mon, fess up._ "

As their eyes swept the Foundry, they were surprised to find Felicity at the wooden dummy as she continued to throw punches and kicks with equal precision and power. They didn't know what to make of this but they decided to watch and see what was truly going on with their IT girl.

***SPN*Arrow*SPN*Arrow*SPN***

Felicity shook her head as she moved to the other side of the wooden dummy, "Talking about it is not going to help. It's not like it's going to change anything." She started whacking her arms around the dummy's arms. The distinct sound of her arm hitting the wood echoed throughout the Foundry once again. She could feel the bruises forming on her arms yet she didn't care. She only cared about the gained strength that she was working on.

" _Neither is punching the hell out of that dummy and yet you don't mind doing that._ " He pointed out before he told her to watch her footing. It wasn't long before her arms started moving more fluidly as they got into the rhythm of the exercise. He used the camera angles to watch her technique more closely before an idea popped into his head, " _Unless you plan to punch Oliver then I take back my statement and ask that you keep the video feed to me open. I wouldn't want to miss that punch._ " He quipped yet half of him was serious.

From the shadows, Oliver wasn't pleased by that statement yet he grew more concerned about the mentions of a video feed. _Did Felicity give access to an outsider?_ He didn't even realize that he was moving towards the training area until Diggle pulled him back into the shadows. Sara managed to get to another vantage point that was across from them. From her spot, she could see the tablet yet not who was on it.

"That's not funny." Felicity deadpanned (unaware of the troubles happening in the Foundry's shadows) before she tilted her head to the side as she looked to the tablet, "My punch wouldn't even hit skin anyways." She turned her attention to the dummy as she continued to punch out the words. "He'd be out of my range before I knew it…or I would be down on the ground with my face in the concrete and my arm twisted behind my back as his knee digs into my spine." She rambled with frustration evident in her voice; that was not the type of close-physical-contact that she'd want with Oliver.

Oliver blinked. _Did she really have little faith in herself?_ He knew that she wouldn't be able to beat him right now but he believed that if she trained long and hard enough then she could rival Sara (who already rivaled him in combat). But then he remembered how together her technique was with the dummy and he started to question his knowledge of Felicity's own fighting capabilities. He also started to question the capabilities of this Dean fellow too.

Dean snickered, " _Ye have little faith. Have you learned nothing from my lessons?_ " He crossed his arms over his chest as he stared right into his laptop to stare Felicity down.

Felicity huffed and stopped her punches, "So what?" She turned to give a questioning yet challenging look into her tablet (something the hidden trio noticed as the source of Dean's voice), "Are you saying that you think you could beat him? That your ways are better."

Oliver's shoulders tensed as the rest of the trio held their breath as they waited for an answer.

" _Have you met me?_ " Dean quipped with a raised eyebrow before his features sobered up, " _You know the things I face every day, Fee. You've seen the scars that I've acquired because of it…_ " Everyone saw the flinch in Felicity's stance when he mentioned scars to her (and Oliver was still tense about hearing the nickname), " _…and yet here I stand after everything that has been thrown at me. Why wouldn't I think that my way is the winning way?_ "

Felicity blinked before she gave a pointed look at the hunter; she wanted a better answer than that. And he knew it.

Dean sighed as he ran a hand through his hair before he moved to the desk that held his laptop. He angled the screen up a bit before he placed his hands on both sides of the device. He exhaled deeply before his mask came over his features; he was back to being the dangerous hunter that was instructing her how to survive. " _You want the truth, fine, it's not about who's training is better. It's about how you apply that training. That's what separates a victor from all the other fighters. A victor knows how to apply the training to their advantage and manipulate it to minimize their weaknesses and maximize their own strengths._"

The hidden fighters in the room couldn't help but nod in agreement to his statement. Apparently, this Dean guy knew his stuff.

" _Do you remember when Sam went head to head against Gordon?_ " Dean asked; he was referring to the time when Sam had to face off against a rogue-hunter-turned-vampire that was hell bent on killing Sam. But no one in the Foundry knew that…except for Felicity.

Felicity nodded, "Sam's weapon was taken away from him. And statistically speaking, Gordon should have won." Gordon had also managed to place Sam in the dark so that Sam was truly weaponless and in the blind while Dean was stuck behind a barricade.

" _Yet he didn't._ " Felicity could see the proud glint in Dean's eyes, " _My baby brother defeated the guy who was impossibly faster and stronger than he was by using his surroundings to his advantage. Sammy beat the odds in that fight…even though he was reckless to lose his weapon in the first place._ " Sam had beaten vampire-Gordon by using a strand of barb wire to decapitate him. It was a move that neither Winchester had done before. **  
**

Oliver and Sara tensed at the sound of someone being _impossibly faster and stronger_ as it reminded them of Slade and the Mirakuru but they didn't have much time to dwell on that.

Felicity placed her hands on her hips, "You've lost your weapon before."

Dean chuckled, " _Touché Fee._ " He smirked at her, which resulted in an amused smile from her before she started punching at the wooden dummy again, " _The point is, getting disarmed doesn't stop me from fighting. I don't stop until the threat has been eliminated._ "

"But what if I'm not good enough to do that? Sam's trained, just like you…just like Oliver and John…just like Sara." Felicity asked and with each name that she listed, she punched harder. Everyone who witnessed it took notice of it.

Sara looked down as if it finally clicked for her why Felicity was reacting like she had. She hadn't realized that while Felicity was welcoming towards her and her newfound freedom, the IT specialist felt inferior to Sara which the former assassin never wanted her new friend to feel.

Oliver, on the other hand, was stunned for he had no idea about the source of Felicity's odd manner as of late while John looked sympathetic yet relieved to hear Felicity finally admit this out loud. While he wished that she said something to him, he was glad that she had someone that she could say it to. Now John just hoped that Dean knew how to respond to such a statement that could go in either direction.

_And there we have it…_ Dean was waiting for Felicity to breech the subject. He caught glimpses of the insecurity throughout their call but he didn't want to say anything in case he had read her wrong from the beginning. He just hoped that what he said next was the right thing to say to her to ease her mind.

" _Good enough by whose standards, Felicity? You just need to win the fight, by any means necessary. You are the one that is going to be doing the fighting, not the person that you are comparing yourself to. Comparisons like that cause doubt and doubt is never good in a fight. Instincts are what you need in a fight and those instincts grow when you trust what you've been learning._" He paused long enough to catch his breath before he continued, " _Comparing yourself to other people…that just spells trouble._ " He shook his head at the very thought.

Felicity huffed as she looked at the tablet, at Dean, "It's not like I can help it."

Dean sighed; he knew what she meant because he too was guilty of making such comparisons (especially while growing up with Sam), _"I know. Its human nature for us to make comparisons like that but it's our choice whether we want those comparisons to affect how we view things._" He gripped the table tightly as he tried to figure out a nice way to phrase his next point, " _Stop making comparisons and just give it your all. That is all I'm asking of you and that's all you should be asking of yourself._ " He looked at her in hopes of driving the message home to her.

She looked away when it got too intense. She started punching at the wooden dummy's padding again.

He waited a few moments and when he saw that she wasn't letting up, he tried again, " _Comparisons like that will do you no good, Felicity._ "

"I get it Dean, okay." Her voice was louder than usual, "I get it." Felicity said through gritted teeth as she continued to punch the wooden dummy yet her anger overwhelmed her enough to cause the formerly stable dummy to rock in its spot. She started breathing heavily, the angry that came with her insecure and doubtful thoughts were starting to resurface again without her permission. And she hated it.

Dean sighed; she had reached her limit, " _I'm just trying to help Fee._ "

The hidden Arrow team members waited with bated breath as their angry team member tried to calm herself down. It didn't matter to them that she had revealed their secret to a stranger, her well-being is all that matter at the moment. They hadn't realized that she had kept so much anger bottled up inside her.

With each deep exhale that she gave, the tension in the air increased as they waited for her next move.

The ball was in her court.

Would she simmer down and accept or would she push away the help?

* * *

  **Part 3  
**

* * *

Felicity gave one final blow to the dummy's padding before she settled her hands onto the dummy to stop it from wobbling in its spot.

"I know," She sighed as she took a few deep breaths to calm herself down, "I'm sorry. It hasn't been easy for me lately."

The three figures in the shadow looked down out of guilt; hearing the usually bubbly IT girl admit that with such a tired tone…they hadn't known. It saddened them (on different levels) that they hadn't known before that moment.

Dean nodded, " _I get that, believe me I do, but you're not the type of person that bottles everything up and starts punching things just to exert that anger._ " There was a slight pause. He moved to sit down in front of his laptop as he thought about what to say next, " _You can talk to me about anything or everything, Sam too if you really want to listen to him babble._" He quipped a bit which got him a small smile from her which, unfortunately, didn't stay present for long.

"But what if I am?" She slowly asked before she turned to face the tablet.

" _You're not. That's one of the things I like about you Fee,_ _you're not like me_. " He smiled when he saw a little blush start to form (from the shadows, Oliver felt this unknown tightening in his chest when he saw the scene before him unfold), " _And one of the things that's uniquely yours is your rambling._ "

Felicity groaned, "Don't remind me."

Dean chuckled yet he continued, " _As I was saying when you ramble, that's your way of working through things and when you ramble, everything is fine with you but when you're silent, that's when I worry._ "

Felicity sighed before she moved to stand in front of the tablet. She lifted up the device so that the screen was right at her eye level, "You don't have to worry about me. You have other things more important to worry about."

" _Nothing is more important than you, Fee._ " Dean declared firmly and his voice resonated throughout the Foundry, making his statement all the more final and clear. " _I'll always worry about you, whether I'm right beside you or whether I'm across the country. There's no stopping that._"

Felicity bit her lip as she found his words very touching and sweet (it was something she needed to hear), "What about Sam?"

With the mention of the absent _Sam_ , the three hidden Arrow team members were wondering just who this Sam was. All they knew was that he was the 'baby brother' of Dean and that Felicity seemed to know him well enough that she could comfortably refer to him when talking to Dean. But who was Sam to Felicity? Better yet, who was Dean to Felicity?

Dean chuckled, " _You pitting my brother against yourself in a 'who would you pick' scenario is not going to make you less important to me._ " He quipped before he got serious once again; needing her to understand how true he meant his next words to her, " _I'd do anything for him just like I'd do anything for you._ " He shrugged his shoulders, " _Just accept it._ "

She blinked a few times before a smile started to form on her lips. "I'd do anything for you too, Dean." She parroted to him with such firm conviction.

Dean shook his head, " _I'm not worth the trouble._ " He never thought he was…it was always everyone else before himself.

"Yes you are." Felicity firmly stated with a pointed look and before Dean could argue, she stopped him, "And if you say I can't then you can't either." She gave him a look, challenging him to take back what he just said if he truly didn't want her to reciprocate.

The hunter couldn't help feeling amused and impressed with her gumption, " _Well played Fee, well played._ " She noticed that his gaze shifted away from her for a moment (probably to check on the other windows on his screen that held the security feeds) before she noticed his brow crinkle in the middle. Before she could ask him what was wrong, he beat her to it, " _Just out of curiosity but have you told your team, or uh, friends, or whatever, about me or Sam?_ " He finished before he looked back at her.

The mentioned team frozen in their spots, all wondering what was going to be said about them next. They knew they shouldn't be eavesdropping yet it was something they couldn't stop. Their curiosity was just…too strong.

She shook her head, "No, it's never really been brought up before and I don't expect it to." She answered as she made her way to her main computer station. She quickly told Dean to hang on before she switched the feed from her tablet to her main computer. She only continued once she saw Dean's face on the larger screen, "Thankfully my past hasn't felt the need to pop in on me and interrupt my present life like it's been doing for some people I know but I'm okay with that. I can't…deal with my past on my own." She finished by grabbing her glasses (which she had left safely on her desk earlier) and putting them on before slumping into her chair.

Dean frowned, " _You wouldn't be on your own._ "

She sighed, "You know what I mean." When she noticed his pointed look (basically telling her to 'humor him and elaborate'), she quickly sat up straighter. "I didn't mean to make it sound like I'm alone in any of this but it's different having to deal with my past when it's just me than when I have you and Sam backing me up here and not from across the country."

" _You're still not alone though._ " He repeated, " _I mean you've surrounded yourself with some pretty interesting people._"

She nodded her head as a small smile formed on her lips at the very thought of the people that she's come to care for in Starling City. But no matter how much she cared for them, she couldn't tell them, especially not with everything that's been going on with them. "Who have enough troubles to deal with as is. I don't need to add my past into the mix."

In the shadows, Oliver had to be held back again when he heard her say that her past didn't matter to them. He wanted to march right up to her and tell her that every part of her mattered and that he'd be there to listen. But Diggle held him back. Apparently it wasn't the time for him to intervene. Yet all Oliver could think about was that Felicity felt like her past would be a burden for them when it wouldn't be. It would just help them solve a piece of the mysterious Felicity puzzle that was before them.

" _But is that fair?_ " Dean's question brought Oliver back to the conversation at Felicity's station. Oliver still couldn't see Dean without giving his location away.

Felicity sighed, "Logically no but I'm not going to tell them unless it's absolutely necessary. You can't just unlearn something like that Dean and you know it." The determination she had in her voice was evident, she wasn't going to spill the beans. "You've spent your whole childhood trying to keep Sam from learning the truth and when he did…" She trailed off from her examples, knowing that Dean would understand her decision.

" _Yeah I get it._ " The hunter sighed as he leaned back in his seat and ran a tired hand over his face, " _As much as I hated it, it was inevitable for Sam to find out. It was an accident that you found out and if there was a similarity between us, Fee, then it would be our need to protect the ones we love, no matter what it would do to us in the end._ " He didn't like that she was similar to him in that aspect yet he couldn't help but admire her for it. There weren't a lot of people in today's world that were selfless enough to let someone else's needs take priority over their own…especially in a world where everyone was watching out for themselves first.

She gave him a sad smile, "You see, that's why I call you Dean. You understand."

Oliver and Diggle looked to one another and with one look they silently agreed to try to be there more for Felicity instead of just occasionally being there. Little did they know that their little exchange had moved them from the shadows for just a moment…which Dean saw, not only from one of the stray camera feeds did he pick up on it but because the men were in a shadow that was in the same frame that had Felicity's face featured. He knew that he wasn't seeing things earlier when he scanned the feeds just before she transferred her signal to her main operating system.

Dean cleared his throat as he tried to figure out what to do next. Does he tell her of their eavesdroppers or continue with the sole purpose of ending this conversation quickly before she unintentionally reveals something to their…visitors?

He decided that he couldn't end the conversation where it was currently at.

" _Yeah but that doesn't mean that you only have to confide in me._ " He cleared his throat again in hopes that she wouldn't realize that he was tampering with the feeds again (basically putting them back into their original positions).

"Everyone around me doesn't think I can handle the heavy issues." She shrugged, as if to say she couldn't help what the team thought, yet he could see that it did bug her on some level to be written off in that aspect, "It kind of limits my options."

" _Maybe they won't think that anymore._ " Dean quickly stated before realizing what he was saying. His eyes widened once the implication truly hit him. _Well that's a great way to shift gears,_ he berated to himself.

Felicity's brow furrowed out of confusion, "Why do you say that?"

The hunter gave her a sheepish grin, " _Because I think your security system was tripped some time ago._ "

Her eyes widened, "What? When?" She started to type frantically, searching for access to the feeds for herself.

" _Some time just before I started talking to you about your second wind._" He admitted as he scratched the back of his neck, it was nervous habit of his, " _I wasn't exactly paying attention to the outside feeds and all the inside feeds are focused on the training area._ " He tried to explain even though he could see in her eyes that she was now on the refocused inside feeds. But unlike Dean, Felicity noticed a familiar car in one of the outside feeds that was specifically focused on the team's self-dubbed parking area.

"But no one is here," She whispered as she found no living evidence of anyone.

Dean rolled his eyes; he really wanted to remind her that just because you couldn't see something didn't mean that it wasn't there. He dealt with that enough while on the job to pick up on that notion. " _Have you forgotten who you're teamed up with? I thought they were experts in stealth…or something._ " He reminded her yet instead of it easing her mind it only caused her whole body to tense up.

"Then they _know_." She whispered yet it was loud enough for the hidden figures to pick up on the fact that she didn't want them to know which only confused them even further.

The hunter tilted his head as he looked at her forlorn expression as she stared down at her keyboard. " _Is that such a bad thing?_ "

"What if I wasn't ready for them to know?" She asked but when she looked up at him, she noticed that while he was looking into the screen, he wasn't focused on her.

"Too late for that," A gruff voice that she knew all too well declared from behind her, causing her to swirl around in her chair and come face to face with a confused yet irritated Oliver Queen.

She gulped.

_Oh boy._

***SPN*Arrow*SPN*Arrow*SPN***

Oliver stared between the wide-eyed blonde and the computer screen that allowed him to see the very man that has had access into his sanctuary for who knew how long. He really didn't know what he expected when he thought of Dean, he only had a voice to go with the name, yet when he looked into the image the young man wasn't what he had in mind. For some reason Oliver had thought that Dean was this middle-aged man because of all his talk about fighting techniques and whatever motivational saying he was using to help boost Felicity's self-esteem…a man of experience…someone like Slade (before the Mirakuru), he thought with a slight pang to his chest when he thought of his fallen comrade. But this man, he could very well be the same age as Diggle yet the haunted look in Dean's eyes told Oliver that this man had seen things, experienced things, that one shouldn't have to face. The billionaire wasn't foreign to that look…however, the intensity was on a different level than what he saw in the mirror every morning.

While Oliver was focused on Dean, he hadn't realized that both Diggle and Sara had moved from their hiding spots to join him on both of his sides. He only noticed it when he saw that Dean's eyes had moved to track the new additions before he focused back on Felicity (who was still staring up at him with this panicked look in her eyes).

Dean cleared his throat, " _And that's my cue to leave._ "

"Don't you dare!" Felicity practically shouted as she quickly swirled her chair around to glare at Dean for even thinking about leaving her in this awkward situation.

Dean sighed; he really didn't want to get involved with this team business even if he was semi-directly involved in the tension that he could clearly see between the four people in the Foundry. " _Do you know what time it is for me over here?_ " He knew it was lame but he really didn't like the analytical looks he was getting from the three newbies to the conversation, especially when he couldn't actually do anything about it (like he would have if he was actually in the Foundry at that moment).

Felicity scoffed (which surprised the team), "Like you care. You don't even look tired."

Dean raised an eyebrow at her before he checked the clock; he was stunned to find how late it was for him on the East Coast. " _Huh, now that I think about it I don't feel tired._ " This disturbed him greatly. He should be tired, especially after the rescue mission, the emotional upheaval that Kevin's visit had brought and the late night training session with Felicity. He should be ready to drop and yet the only signs of exhaustion he felt were from the soreness of his muscles when he worked them over so hard during a short amount of time.

Felicity's rebel-eqsue attitude faded when she noticed the worried look on Dean's face, "What is it?"

Dean shook his head, " _It's probably nothing._ " At least he hoped it was nothing, " _And you've got more important things to worry about._ "

"But-"

" _No buts Fee._ " He cut her off, " _You don't run from your problems, remember?_ "

Before Felicity could respond, Diggle stepped up from Oliver's left, "Felicity what is going on?"

She swirled around and pushed her chair back a bit so that everyone was in her line of vision, "I can explain, really I can." Unfortunately, her rambles seem to fail her in that moment because she was drawing a blank. What was she meant to say? She didn't want this to happen. She worked hard on keeping both of her lives separate and yet in one night, all that hard work came crumbling down. How was she supposed to explain this?

" _While she gathers her thoughts,_ " the hunter interrupted when it became clear that Felicity wasn't going to say anything soon as she had a few false starts under her belt. He took pity and took over in hopes that she wouldn't mind (unfortunately he was more use to these awkward meet-and-greets than she was), " _hi I'm Dean and you must be John Diggle, the overqualified bodyguard to a man that clearly doesn't need one yet everyone believes otherwise._ " He greeted with a smirk as he remembered all the things Felicity had told him about John Diggle…all of them positive things. He would have to thank the man in the future for keeping a protective eye on Felicity, especially after what happened with the Undertaking.

Diggle blinked a few times (he wasn't expecting that introduction), "Hi…just call me Diggle or Digg. Either's fine."

Dean's smirk remained in place; he wasn't unhinged in any way.

When no one else moved to say anything else, the newly returned blonde stepped forward (having herself stand between Oliver and Felicity). "Hi Dean, I'm…"

" _Sara Lance,_ " Dean interrupted, showing that he did know who the second blonde was, " _the recently resurrected and freed assassin that likes to fight in black leather._ " He chuckled a bit after saying it, it still seemed outrageous to him, " _Seriously lady, I don't know how you could fight in something so constricting as leather._ " He quipped and Sara found that she liked that about him, despite the look in his eyes that she too noticed (like Oliver had earlier). He still knew how to have fun.

Sara shrugged, "It was a bitch at first but now it's like a second skin." She teased and she was surprised by the amusement she felt in the situation. She always felt ashamed of her time with the League (and all the killing associated with it) and yet with the way Dean had just summed it all up for her, with no true judgment, he made it sound like it was just another run-of-the-mill thing someone would encounter (if only she knew what he encountered on a daily basis). He made her feel like Felicity had when they first had met.

The hunter laughed, " _So not helping right now._ "

"You seem to know a lot about us." Oliver piped in with a narrowed look but that didn't seem to faze Dean as he controlled his amusement.

" _I tend to know a lot about many things Mr. Queen, just enough to make me dangerous._" Dean quipped yet the challenge was clear in his eyes. While Oliver didn't know the true extent of the meaning behind Dean's words, he did know (despite their current location being a giveaway) that Dean was very aware of the two contrasting roles that came with being Oliver Queen (Felicity's boss, aka Mr. Queen…and the vigilante, aka the Arrow).

"I see."

" _But I bet the same can be said about you._ " Dean continued as he leaned back in his seat, " _I mean, how many people truly know what you're really capable of now that you've returned from your own purgatory?_ " If it wasn't clear before, it was definitely clear after Dean said that that he knew his secret and it was all because of Felicity. Even the visible flinch at the word _purgatory_ was enough of a reminder to Oliver that Felicity was the theoretical whistle-blower.

The betrayal that Oliver felt after that confirmation…he wasn't expecting it. _There has to be a reason_ , he immediately thought, _there has to be a reason why Felicity would tell my secret to this stranger._ It was like Barry Allen all over again and yet, he knew that Felicity told Barry to save Oliver's life but why tell Dean?

Oliver cleared his throat, completely deflecting Dean's earlier question, "So how do you know Felicity?"

Dean smirked, already aware of the deflection, yet he followed the billionaire's lead, " _Initially, she was just a friend of a friend. But then things happened and we kept in touch._ "

"He's…saved my life a few times." Felicity added in when it was clear that Dean wasn't going to say more on the topic. She was internally grateful that Dean took over the introductions even though she knew that she should have done them. She had just shutdown, too overwhelmed with the idea of her past truly meeting with her present. "I probably wouldn't be here if it weren't for him and his brother." She ended with a shrug, as if to say that it was no big deal.

The team didn't think it was 'no big deal' as they each gave her a surprised look of their own yet they were disappointed when she didn't elaborate on that comment. To know that there was a possibility that they could have never met Felicity Smoak…it was unfathomable to them, especially to Oliver and Diggle.

" _Same thing goes for me, Fee._ " Dean directed at the IT genius before he turned his attention back to the others, " _Since then, she's one of the few people that keeps me grounded._ "

Diggle and Sara nodded (they understood what was being said) while Oliver grunted and crossed his arms over his chest. While he understood, he was annoyed at what was truly being said about the relationship between Dean and Felicity...and he didn't get why he cared so much about it. Shouldn't he be happy that Felicity had someone else who cared enough about her to have her back?

"And she told you about all this? About us?" Felicity cringed when she heard the barely concealed frustration in Oliver's voice. Another reason why Felicity hadn't talked about Sam and Dean to him was because she feared that he'd eventually piece together that she told the team secret to them. Oliver had been furious when she had told Barry in order to save his life and she was downright scared of losing Oliver after telling him the secret that Moira Queen was keeping from her own son but this…she didn't know what to think or feel…and it was all happening before her eyes.

" _Wouldn't you want to know about the well-being of someone you cared for?_ " Dean countered with a glare aimed solely at the billionaire.

It wasn't that Dean hated Oliver…he just hated the fact that Oliver had involved Felicity in such dangerous activities when she was supposed to stay clear of that stuff. She already had enough of the life-and-death adventures to last her a lifetime, she didn't need to add more just because Vigilante-Oliver asked for her help. But he had learned a long time ago that he couldn't tell Felicity what to do yet he made sure that she knew just how he felt on the situation. It also didn't help that Felicity had a strong crush on the hooded crusader, who didn't seem to know of said crush as he paraded around with his women as she watched in the shadows. No matter how good of a guy Oliver Queen was, Dean had his reasons for being less than welcoming to the man.

When it didn't look like Oliver was loosening up (it actually seemed like he tensed up at Dean's question), the hunter went with a different approach. " _She knows that I'm risking my life every other night, I expect the same courtesy when it comes to her._ " He knew that a majority of the time, Felicity was doing 'behind the scenes' work so she wasn't actually in direct danger like Oliver would be in and yet he still wanted to make sure she was okay after every mission because he knew from experience how much of a toll could be taken on them afterwards.

Oliver definitely wasn't expecting that, "And you're okay with it?"

Dean shrugged, " _Not that Felicity needs my permission or anything because whether I give it or not, she's going to do what she thinks is right._ " He quipped which resulted in Felicity crossing her arms over her chest and leaning back in her chair as she pouted, "B _esides, I always thought she was meant for greater things, which unfortunately can't be strictly done behind a desk and away from danger._ "

Felicity sighed, she could only stay silent for so long when she's the topic of discussion, "This again?"

" _I'll shut up. I'm just saying._ " Dean backed off with a chuckle.

Oliver watched as Felicity rolled her eyes while trying to fight her smile from showing. It was then that Oliver truly witnessed what Felicity was like when she truly lost herself in a conversation with Dean and he didn't like how his chest constricted at the very thought that she'd completely forgotten him while engaging with another man.

Before Oliver even realized it (or dwell on his surprisingly declining thoughts when it came to the subject), Dean was saying his goodbyes which Felicity protested against before he reminded her that their training session was interrupted by the team meeting for a reason. With that reminder, Felicity gave a reluctant goodbye to the hunter before she dived right in to the information she had gotten on the Clock King, giving no one a chance to bring Dean up again to her for the time being.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Back Story:** In my head, Felicity is no slouch in defense yet she's been so focused on computers that her former skills have diminished over time. I mean, we've only see her train with Diggle once on the show so I'm assuming after that "failure", Felicity has figured out other ways to train in a way that suits her (and not the guys). Basically for part 2, the idea was that Sara/Oliver/Diggle stumble upon Felicity's training with Dean and instead of interrupting they decide to see what compelled Felicity to not only train but bring an 'outsider' in on the situation.
> 
>  
> 
> **Originally Published on FFN:**  
>  \- Part 1 = March 1, 2014  
> \- Part 2 = March 5, 2014  
> \- Part 3 = March 14, 2014


	5. Second Sniper on Standby (2x15 & 9x15)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Chapter Summary:** [Tag on to 2x15] When the team plans to face off against Slade at the Queen Mansion, Felicity calls in some backup to give them an advantage.  
>   
> 
> **Spoiler(s):** everything up to SPN 9x15 ("#THINMAN") and everything up to Arrow 2x15 ("The Promise").  
>  **Time Frame:** Shortly after Sara/Diggle/Roy leave the Foundry for the Queen Mansion. [Also for continuity sake, Oliver went home to find Slade there the night after Felicity was shot by the Clock King...we need her off those pain meds].
> 
> **Inspiration:** Once again, I just couldn't help myself!

****

* * *

  **"Second Sniper on Standby"**

* * *

A panicked Felicity watched as Sara, Diggle and Roy left for the Queen mansion to save Oliver and his family from Slade Wilson. The island alumni all thought that he was dead but the moment Sara recognized his voice over the line, Felicity saw true fear in the former assassin's eyes. Slade's return was a _very_ bad thing.

She knew she had to stay behind, not only because of her shoulder but because of the fact that she truly couldn't provide anything against the original Mirakuru man, not like the others could.

But she could provide them with a little more backup. One that no one else would see coming.

Felicity quickly fished out her phone and hit speed dial #7…lucky number seven.

After three rings, he finally picked up.

***SPN*Arrow*SPN*Arrow*SPN***

On the East Coast, the driver of a 1967 Chevy Impala answered his ringing cell phone.

"Yeah," Dean Winchester answered while his brother, Sam, was in the passenger seat. They had just finished dropping off Harry Spengler (from the Ghostfacers) at the nearest bus station (per his request).

" _I need your help,_ " He recognized that voice immediately and her quick and straight to the point tone told him that something was up…she rarely used that tone over the phone.

Dean quickly straightened in his seat, his knuckles gripping the wheel tightly. "Hang on," he told her quickly before he pushed a few buttons and held the phone towards his car's radio, "You're on speaker, what is it?"

Sam quickly took the phone from Dean so that he could have both hands on the wheel; he had a feeling that his brother would need to have full control of his car soon. He already had a bad feeling about this call.

" _A guy that Oliver thought he killed on the island is currently in Oliver's house with him and the rest of the Queen family. Sara says that this man, Slade, will do whatever it takes to make Oliver suffer._ " She was fast but the rambling was enough for Sam to know that Felicity Smoak was on the other line. The mention of Oliver Queen was also a dead giveaway too. There wasn't a conversation with Felicity that didn't involve Oliver in some way, shape or form.

Dean sighed as he gave a quick look to his brother, "And a way to make a man suffer is by targeting his family." The Winchester brothers knew what that was like…they were each other's Achilles' heel. Fortunately they knew how to handle themselves yet Oliver's family…they didn't have that same luxury.

" _Yes, I need your help. Please._ " Felicity pleaded. She knew it was a lot to ask but she didn't know what else to do. She knew that if something happened to Oliver's family then it would break Oliver and she couldn't have that happen.

Both brothers could hear the desperation in her voice. "We would be there in a heartbeat Fee but we're on the East Coast. We'd never make it in time." It would take them days to drive to Starling City without any pit stops yet Felicity needed them now.

" _He has the Mirakuru in him, Dean._ " Felicity's voice started to shake despite her attempts to keep her voice leveled; she needed to stay strong for the team…they still needed her once they reached the mansion. " _There is no reasoning with this man. Sara said he was a killer before he was injected and now…_ " She didn't even want to think what this man was now, especially with the distorting Mirakuru running through his veins.

"And now he's more dangerous." Sam finished when she couldn't. They knew about the Mirakuru serum thanks to Felicity's updates. She thought they should know since a Mirakuru subject, from what she's gathered, could be mistaken for a supernatural entity. She wanted the brothers to be on the lookout just in case the Mirakuru wasn't only in Starling City.

" _And deranged,_ " She mumbled and yet they heard her, " _Please, there has got to be a way._ "

Dean's grip on the wheel tightened as an unsettling plan formed in his head, "We'll think of something." He couldn't promise her just in case his idea fell through; he couldn't have her rely completely on them. They were just meant to be thought of as backup. "Can we have the coordinates of where they'll be?" With that said, Sam passed Dean's phone back to him so that he could take out his own phone so that he could search the web for the coordinates' locations.

Felicity quickly rambled off the coordinates to the Queen Estate before she told them that Diggle was preparing for a sniper shot at the exit while Roy was meant to get Thea and Moira Queen out of the mansion so that Oliver and Sara could deal with Slade.

"Alright, hang tight." Dean told her before Sam hung up the phone.

Sam exhaled as he looked down at the city map that he pulled up on his phone. "You thinking what I'm thinking?" He lifted his head and gave his brother a pointed look. He knew that Dean wouldn't like what he was thinking and yet it was the only way if they were to help Felicity.

Dean growled. "All angels are grounded. We've got no other choice." He hated the idea so much.

Sam sighed as he twisted in his seat, "I remember there was a crossroads just a mile back the way we came."

With a quick glance to see if they were the only car on the country road, Dean pulled a quick U-turn before he sped towards the needed crossroad. "Let's just hope that we're not too late."

***SPN*Arrow*SPN*Arrow*SPN***

After an intense confrontation filled with threats (demonic imprisonment or death came up often), Sam and Dean managed to get a crossroad demon to transport them and the Impala to the coordinates without bartering their souls away. They ended up on the edge of the property before the demon escaped their grasp as promised. The brothers quickly exited their car and headed for their trunk for some extra ammunition, their machetes and the sniper rifle before they scoped the perimeter.

While checking the perimeter, Sam had called Felicity to let her know that they were on site. To say she was relieved was an understatement. She quickly relayed everyone else's positions back to the brothers (they were all in the foyer from the looks of it and she could hear through her muted communication link that new introductions were being made) and she even pointed out that the ones with Mirakuru had a slightly higher body temperature than the others (they showed up yellow in the thermal imaging while the others were shown in orange). The brothers thought that was interesting.

Sam and Dean were just coming around the front of the mansion when they noticed an unattended sniper's nest. They were immediately on alert as they ventured forward. The sniper and its case were still in place yet there was no John Diggle.

Dean cursed at what this could mean. "Where the hell did he go?"

Sam quickly covered the phone up so that Felicity couldn't hear them, "I'll look around. You've got to take his spot."

"What? Sam I'm not letting -"

"Felicity is counting on us to take Slade out," Sam quickly interrupted before Dean wasted too much time complaining about the idea of splitting up (it was always better to have someone watch your back), "between us, you're better with the sniper."

Dean couldn't argue with him on that point yet he still didn't like the idea. They didn't know who (or what) got Diggle and to have Sam search for those answers on his own was dangerous (no matter how old they were). But they were running out of time.

Before they could get a move on with their new plan, Felicity's voice from the phone grabbed their attention, " _Guys? Are you still there?_ "

Sam moved the phone back to his ear, "Yeah we're here." Dean quickly grabbed the sniper rifle and repositioned himself for the shot. He doubled checked to make sure everything was set (especially the rifle suppressor because he didn't need the noise to attract the attention). Once Dean was in position, Sam pulled out his gun and crouched down a few feet away with his back to Dean so that Dean's back was covered. Sam wouldn't let what he assumed happened to Diggle happen to Dean too.

" _Oliver is heading to the front door with Slade. It's just the two of them._ " Felicity told Sam, who then repeated it back to Dean. While she didn't have a visual of the encounter inside the mansion, thermal imaging and the audio she picked up from Sara and Roy's communication links were all Felicity had working for her.

"It's showtime." Dean announced once he had the Mirakuru man with an eye-patch in his sight.

***SPN*Arrow*SPN*Arrow*SPN***

Oliver was still tense as he walked Slade to his car. He still couldn't believe that his former mentor/friend/brother was still alive and behind everything that revolved around the Mirakuru's return.

"Cyrus Gold, the man in the skull mask, all this was you. They worked for you." Oliver listed as he tried to work through everything.

"Well, I had my allies…" Slade exclaimed as he took a few steps ahead of Oliver, "just as you have yours… John Diggle for example."

Oliver stopped at the mention of his friend's name yet Slade continued to walk.

"I supposed you're wondering why he hasn't taken his -"

Slade wasn't able to finish his statement as a bullet pierced into his skull as it landed between his eyes.

Oliver stumbled back a bit when he saw Slade waver in his stance before he dropped to his knees. The younger man quickly looked to where the shot came from yet he couldn't see that far out into the darkness. He turned his attention back to the fallen man just when his body slumped to the ground with a small pool of blood flowing out from under him.

After a few moments of watching his body, Oliver slowly lowered himself so that he could check for a pulse. When he couldn't find one, he lowered his head. While Slade had turned into his nemesis, he _was_ once a dear friend to Oliver…one that he learned a great deal from.

Before Oliver could dwell on it for much longer, his phone rang. When he saw that it was Felicity, he quickly picked up the call.

"It's done." He said emotionlessly as a way of greeting. He was still processing just how he should feel about Slade's death.

" _I know. I have a dimming thermal reading for him._ " She quickly explained before she got to the real reason why she was calling him, " _I called to remind you to go back inside so that your mom and sister don't come outside to see what's taking you so long. Sara and Roy can only stall them for so long without it looking suspicious._ " Oliver was only supposed to be gone long enough to walk Slade to his car and back…he was pushing his timing by this point. Felicity could hear through the team's communications how the Queen women were starting to wonder what was taking Oliver so long to return.

Oliver ran a tired hand over his face, "I can't just leave the body, Felicity."

" _Already on it. Just go inside._ " She hung up after that, leaving no room for argument.

Oliver sighed as he pocketed his phone and turned to face his dead friend. He allowed himself a few moments to pull himself together before he stood and headed back inside.

Little did he know that two men he never met before were about to clean up his mess.

***SPN*Arrow*SPN*Arrow*SPN***

**Moments Earlier: **

Once the shot had hit its mark, the Winchesters waited with bated breath for the man to fall to his knees.

Once the target slumped to the ground, Dean motioned for Sam to pass him the phone. Sam didn't object but while Dean had the phone, Sam took a closer look around the sniper's nest for any sign of Diggle's attacker.

"Package has been delivered," Dean said with the phone placed between his face and his shoulder as he dismantled the sniper rifle.

A few clicks of a keyboard could be heard over the phone, " _I'm picking up on the thermal imaging now. It's dimming down._ " She confirmed before she sighed loudly. Oliver could confirm the execution (she was trying not to think of it as such and yet with a dangerous man like Slade, that's what it was in the end) for her but he wasn't linked up to the team's communications.

"Great. One problem down, another to go." Dean commented as he placed the pieces back into its case.

The clicking stopped, " _What do you mean?_ "

"I mean that _I_ had to take the shot Fee," he snapped the case shut before he stood, "I killed the man because your friend Dig _wasn't_ here."

" _What_?" It was obvious that she hadn't expected that. She thought Dean was telling her because Diggle was too busy to do so himself...yet he wouldn't need to call her, now that she thought about it, he was linked to her through his comm. device. In fact, she hasn't heard from him in a bit.

Sam quickly rejoined Dean and took the phone from him, "Hey Felicity, it looks like someone dragged him away from the sniper's nest he had set up. Is there any way you could pull up the thermal imaging results of our current location?" During his search around their nest, Sam had noticed some parts of the grass that were pressed down, as if a heavy mass had been dragged over it recently. The path headed towards the property line in the opposite direction of where they left the Impala. Sam only managed to follow it for a few feet before he had returned to give his findings.

Catching onto what Sam was suggesting, Felicity started typing in the new parameters for the imager program, " _I'll try then maybe I could rewind and see if there is another heat signature between the time Diggle arrived to when you guys arrived._ " She quickly got to work in finding the two heat signatures that were clustered outside on the property.

"Alright that sounds great." Sam said before he started to head towards the mansion, "Dean and I are going to head down and deal with the body." Dean didn't need to be told that he was meant to follow Sam. He was annoyed that he now had to clean up the dead mess that he unexpectedly created. He was also a littler perturbed at the fact that he wasn't so torn over the fact that he had just killed a man that had no supernatural ties to him that he knew of.

Felicity stopped typing, " _But Oliver will see you._ "

"Which is why you need to call him and tell him to get back inside. His absence will draw attention which we don't need." Sam reasoned with her while they stuck to the shadows. "Just get him inside and we'll take care of the body."

Felicity quickly agreed before she hung up.

***SPN*Arrow*SPN*Arrow*SPN***

From a few feet away, the Winchesters watched and waited in silence until Oliver went back inside his family estate. Once the billionaire was out of sight, the brothers got to work. They padded the body down for car keys and once Dean found them, they popped the trunk and dumped Slade's body inside. They removed his jacket and tried to soak up as much blood as they could from the ground before they tossed the ruined garment back into the trunk. Sam quickly took the two sniper cases (theirs and Diggle's) and headed for the passenger seat while Dean went straight for the driver's side. Once settled, they bolted down the driveway.

While Dean made his way to the Impala, Sam called Felicity again for a safe location where they could salt and burn the body (he also told her that someone needed to hose down the driveway to really get rid of any traces of blood since they did the best they could with so little they had on them). Since there wasn't much woods around, she had to lead them to either an abandoned dock within the city or to a vacant patch of land on the outskirts of town.

The brothers chose the patch of land.

Once Dean drove up to the Impala, he tossed the keys to Sam so that he could follow Dean in the Impala. Normally Dean wouldn't let Sam drive but he wanted to drive Slade's car for a little bit longer…it was one of those 'once in a lifetime' moments for him.

Without drawing attention to themselves, the Winchesters drove out of town and found the vacant land that Felicity was referring to. There weren't many trees around but there was enough cover for them. Once Dean found the most concealed spot possible for them, he parked the car and got out. Sam soon pulled up next to his brother. Once parked, Dean transferred the two sniper cases into their car before he went for the trunk to grab their shovels. They had a grave to dig.

Since digging up graves wasn't a foreign thing for the hunters, they were done in a fair amount of time and before they knew it, they were tossing Slade's body into the hole. As Sam salted the body, Dean poured the gasoline before he lit the match and threw it inside, igniting the grave in a massive blaze. For a while they watched as the flames consumed the body before Dean turned to Slade's car; he planned to wipe their existence clean from the vehicle before they ditched it. Dean did everything to that car; he tinkered with the mechanics so that it wouldn't start even when it was hot-wired, he removed the license plates and then he wiped down every surface that he and Sam had come into contact with. As Dean did this, Sam watched the grave for a little longer before he filled it up (extinguishing the flames in the process).

By the time they were both done with their individual tasks, they were exhausted but they couldn't check into a motel just yet. Dirt, sweat and some of Slade's blood had stained their clothes so any public establishment was out of the question for them.

Without a word, Sam called Felicity up again and asked if they could get cleaned up at her place before they went to a motel for the night. Instead she offered the Foundry up to them since they could come and go without drawing attention to themselves and she knew that she wasn't going to go back home anytime soon (not with Diggle still MIA) so this way she could spend some time with them while they were in town. It also helped that during the Foundry's renovations (after the Undertaking), she had the foresight to include some cots and a working bathroom into their little headquarters so their visit wouldn't be an inconvenience at all.

Needless to say that Sam couldn't refuse the offer. With that taken care of, Sam and Dean got back into the Impala and headed back to town.

About half way through the drive, Sam broke the silence between them. "Are you good?"

Dean took a quick glance at his brother, "I'm good." His shoulders were tense and his grip on the wheel had his knuckles turning white on a few occasions. By just looking at him, Sam knew that his brother was not good.

Sam sighed, "Do we need to talk about it?"

"I thought you wanted to keep things professional?" Dean countered with a roll of his eyes. Ever since they teamed up again since helping Garth out, Sam had made it clear that he just wanted to have a professional partnership with Dean, which sounded ridiculous and impossible since _they were_ _brothers_ first but Dean had tried to give his brother what he wanted even if it confused the hell out of him. But now…now Sam wanted to cross that line into the personal and Dean was just going to give him a hard time about it. Sam needed to make his mind up.

"You just killed a man -"

"For Felicity," Dean interrupted hotly. Sam knew that Dean would do anything for the people that he loved so the older hunter didn't get why this latest development would surprise his brother.

"-without even flinching," Sam continued as though Dean hadn't spoken, "That's _twice_ in the last twenty-four hours, Dean. That has to _bother_ you on some level." He pointed out with an imploring look; killing creatures was one thing they weren't strangers to but killing humans…it truly unnerved Sam and to see that it didn't bother Dean… that had him worried.

Dean scowled as he drove into the city, "Slade was too far gone under the Mirakuru's distortive ways. There was no going back for him. He needed to be stopped. And that Thinman wannabe back in Springdale, he was killing people for fun Sam and then _glorifying_ it with his dirty cop partner. He needed to be stopped." He strongly defended himself with no remorse and why should he? He killed those who harmed innocents, and usually those at the end of his weapon were creatures that had no self-control in the matter so they needed to die in order to save innocent lives but if a human who was doing the killings got in the way then he wasn't going to turn a blind eye. If there was another way for justice to occur, he'd do it yet he would kill if there was no other way. And it just so happened that these latest humans gave him no other options. "This is not a new concept for me Sam, _I'm fine_." Dean declared through gritted teeth, signifying the end of their discussion.

Sam sighed yet he didn't push Dean on the subject anymore. The only time they spoke was when Sam was giving Dean the directions that Felicity gave him for Verdant.

***SPN*Arrow*SPN*Arrow*SPN***

Once Dean located the club, he doubled back and found the alleyway that Felicity was leading them to; since the club was located in the Glades, Felicity had reassured them that there would be a security camera on his Impala so it minimized any chance of someone trying something on the classic beauty. After they grabbed their overnight bags from the trunk and Diggle's sniper case, they made their way to the hidden back entrance of the Foundry. Before either brother could knock, the door swung open.

"I'm so glad you're okay. I still can't believe that you're here," Felicity rushed out as a greeting after removing herself from the entrance. She would have hugged them yet she thought better of it once she saw the condition they were both in…they definitely needed to shower.

The brothers looked to one another and smiled before they faced the petite blonde again.

"It's good to see you too, Fee." Dean said with a smirk; all his previous anger was slowly fading from him as he watched the bubbly woman try to contain her excitement.

Felicity beamed a smile at the both of them. "It's been too long since you were last in town."

Sam nodded, "Mind if we come in?"

Feeling like she wanted to smack herself in the head, Felicity backed up and led the brothers inside. She updated them on what she could find with the thermal imaging and how she was just trying to find traffic cameras that covered their suspicious route around the time that Diggle's heat signature went off the property. She was still waiting for those results.

Before the brothers could help her with anything else, she gave them a quick tour of the place with the last spot in that tour being the bathroom. She quickly left them to their business afterwards and the brothers were internally grateful that they wouldn't be arguing over who got to shower first as there was two of everything in that space. Felicity had explained that when renovations were done, she had the notion that since Oliver and Diggle were the only ones going into the field (at the time at least) then there was a possibility that some nights might require the both of them to get cleaned up and waiting for another to finish up may not be an option. It kind of reminded her of when she was living in residence back at MIT (it reminded Sam of his time back at Stanford during his freshman year) where everyone would rush to the bathrooms in the morning to get ready for class yet no one was willing to wait for another to finish which would have been horrid if there weren't multiples of everything available to everyone.

So while the brothers were washing themselves of the night's work, Felicity was checking her results while anxiously waiting for Oliver and Sara to arrive.

***SPN*Arrow*SPN*Arrow*SPN***

After finding a way to excuse themselves from the family, Oliver and Sara managed to talk freely with one another only to realize that they needed to get back to the Foundry for a proper run down of the night. So they had snuck out of the mansion, dealt with the small blood stain on the driveway (as Sara was told to do by Felicity through the communication links) before they headed for the Foundry. They wanted to hear from Felicity and Diggle themselves that Slade had been truly taken care of. Both island alumni didn't want to deal with another dangerous ghost from their past. They were still a little shocked that everything (more or less) went their way that night when it came to Slade. They were expecting it to be more…miserable. However they both knew that beggars couldn't be choosers so they weren't going to argue with the round of luck they received that evening.

Unfortunately the two vigilantes felt their luck drain away from them when they silently entered the Foundry only to see that Felicity wasn't at her computers with Diggle but with a tall man with shaggy hair that neither have seen before. While they noticed that he didn't have an imposing stance over Felicity and that he didn't appear to be a threat to her, he still was a threat though for the very fact that _neither_ of them knew him and because he was in their team hideout.

So without thinking, Sara pulled the knife out of her back-belt sheath and she got ready to throw it at the man.

However, the clicking of a gun's safety from behind them caused Oliver and Sara to freeze.

"Throw that knife at him and you'll get a bullet in your pretty little head, Blondie." The man growled from behind them as he aimed his gun at Sara's head.

Without access to a weapon, Oliver slowly raised his hands up in a defensive manner before he slowly turned to face his attacker. What he saw, however, shocked him because while the man with a gun seemed to have held himself up like a soldier, he was currently shirtless and his hair seemed to be wet. Oliver quickly noticed the flaming pentagram tattoo on the man's chest before he noticed the athletic build that was littered with a few old scars here and there (they weren't as prominent as Oliver's scars yet their presence was still clear). There was one scar on the gunman's right forearm that resembled a burn yet it was designed in a way that wasn't possible for a burn to have…it was weird. He even appeared to be a few years older than Oliver…quite possibly the same age as Diggle yet his eyes told him that he's seen more than he should have in his lifetime. This both intrigued and bothered the billionaire.

Before Sara could lower her knife, Felicity's shout interrupted them.

"Dean! Put that gun down!" She sputtered as she quickly ran to the scene while her tall companion stayed by the computers. Oliver wanted to shout at Felicity to stay back from the standoff but he was more focused on this Dean fellow and the gun trained on Sara.

"She was about to throw a knife at my brother," Dean sneered as his eyes remained on Oliver and Sara.

At the mention of his brother, both vigilantes couldn't fault Dean for his reaction as they both had siblings they were protective of too.

"To be fair, Sara didn't know who Sam was which is completely understandable but I guess I should have told you beforehand that Oliver and Sara would be dropping by for an update. I should have told them too now that I think about it," She quickly explained to Dean before she truly noticed the state he was currently in, "I told Sam after he was done with his shower but it looks like we might have… interrupted yours." She nervously bit her bottom lip as her eyes scanned over Dean's body. It wasn't a secret that she was checking him out (she was even intrigued when she caught sight of Dean's newly acquired Mark of Cain that was on his forearm) and she wasn't the only one either…once Sara was able to move without fearing a bullet being shot at her, she turned her head around far enough that she caught sight of a fair amount of new skin and she was definitely impressed.

"I thought I heard something so I came to check it out." Dean explained before he pulled his gun back and flipped the safety back on after getting the identities of the newcomers from her babbles; he also didn't draw any attention to the fact that the women were ogling him. "Apparently I'm the only one paying attention to his surroundings." He jibbed with a pointed look at this brother.

Sam glared at his brother as he took a few steps forward to join them, "To be fair, Felicity and I must have gotten caught up in one of the searches we were looking at."

Dean raised an eyebrow at that, "Which was what exactly?" When Sam and Felicity were together, anything could distract them because they just got too involved in their discussions so Dean didn't think that whatever they were talking about had any real relevance to the current mission.

Before Felicity could jump in and ease the tension between the brothers, Sam answered the unspoken challenge, "We were trying to figure out the motive behind Slade being at the Queen mansion. We were trying to uncover it from all angles while we were waiting for the results on Digg to show up."

That immediately drew Oliver's attention back to the conversation instead of on the intruders themselves, "Wait, hold on. You two," he gestured between the two brothers, "know about Slade and Diggle? How?"

"I called them." Felicity's voice squeaked a bit.

Oliver gave her a disbelieving look, "What?"

Felicity shrugged a little without hurting her injured shoulder even more, "Well after Sara was explaining how dangerous Slade was, I got worried that the four of you wouldn't be enough to handle him since he's had the serum in him for at least _five years_ so I called Sam and Dean for help." She exhaled deeply before she continued, "They're…friends of my family and I've been telling them about the Mirakuru since they deal with cases that are similar to it. I wanted to give them a heads up just in case they came across it."

Oliver frowned; he didn't like the idea of Felicity confiding to someone else about... their team business, "Without telling me?"

Dean scoffed, "She doesn't need your permission to tell us anything and quite frankly, I like to be aware of the fact that she's placed herself in the line of fire once again when she was supposed to be laying low." He finished with a pointed look at Felicity.

"Can we not talk about this now?" Felicity huffed and she was internally grateful when Sam left and returned with a few shirts he had thrown at Dean so that he could cover himself up. He did so without arguing.

"Laying low from what?" Sara asked as she looked between Felicity and the brothers.

Felicity groaned as she threw her hands up in the air, "This is seriously not the time! We need to find Diggle." She finished before she stomped back towards her computers. Everyone slowly followed her to her computer station with Oliver and Sara sticking to Felicity's left while the Winchesters kept to Felicity's right.

Oliver frowned, "I thought you said that he was taking care of Slade's body. That's the only reason why I went inside when you called and told me to." He explained before his eyes scanned the Foundry for any trace of his friend. There was no sign that Diggle had been there recently...and his sniper case was in it's usual spot.

"Actually that was us. You're welcome by the way." Dean declared with a grunt before Felicity could explain about Diggle's absence.

Oliver turned and glared at Dean, "What do you mean?"

Sam sighed, he needed to intervene before things went downhill, "What my brother is trying to say," he glared at his brother, silently telling him to shut up for the moment, before he continued, "is that once we arrived and scanned the area, we found Diggle's sniper setup in place and yet he wasn't anywhere to be found. Since time was an issue, Dean had to take the shot on Slade…"

"That was you?" Oliver interrupted with a neutral expression. He didn't know whether to be alarmed or impressed by this stranger's accuracy. At least if Diggle had shot Slade then Oliver would know that it was due to his military training but with Dean, Oliver had no clue what or where Dean had gotten his training. _He could have been trained by the League for all I know_ , he thought darkly.

Dean shrugged before crossing his arms over his chest, "Felicity said you needed the guy dead so I took the shot." He deadpanned but his lack of emotion worried Sam and Felicity.

Sam cleared his throat before he dived into what they had done after they arrived at the estate. "Well, after that I went to see what happened with Diggle but I only found a trail that led to a road off the property. So far Felicity has been able to get some traffic cam footage," he pointed to the monitor that was dedicated to the search, "of the black van that left the property shortly after the time the thermal imaging showed Diggle's heat signature being dragged away, which happened before we arrived on site." He sighed when he saw that only a little progress with the program had been done since he last checked, "We're just waiting for the program to scrub the footage of the van so that we could get a plate number off of it to track."

Oliver nodded at Sam, showing his appreciation for the concise debrief. "Where's Slade now?"

"Buried in an unmarked grave on the outskirts of town after we burned his body," Dean replied with a bit of snark. When he got bewildered looks from the two vigilantes, the hunter rolled his eyes. "Don't worry, he's not rising from the dead again." He quipped before he eyed Sara from head to toe, "You have enough dead people rising as it is…isn't that right, Blondie?"

Sara blinked yet it was clear that she wasn't impressed, "I have a name."

"Oh I know." He smirked as he looked her over once again, "Sara Lance, the girl that returned from the dead in black leather. I got to say, that's an upgrade from the blood and bruises I returned with." He briefly thought back to all the times he had returned to the land of the living in the most non-pristine conditions (his return from Hell and from Purgatory were the more monumental of his resurrections). He tilted his head a bit as he looked at her, as if he was contemplating something to ask her until he finally decided to just go for it, "Did returning from the dead measure up to what you hoped it would be like?"

"More or less," Sara hesitated in saying since she was still confused as to the why behind the question (and of Dean's own statement). She got the impression that he knew a little something about her situation, and not from the 'he heard her story' type of something. It was like he personally knew something about what she was dealing with. She didn't recognize him from the League or the Island so was there another way he could relate to her in that way?

Not likely how Dean's attention was solely on Sara, Oliver loudly cleared his throat, "Could we focus on the issue at hand here?" He turned to face Sam and Felicity for an answer (he thought he'd get an answer from them without the attitude he has gotten from Dean so far), therefore missing the triumphant smirk that appeared on the older hunter's face. "So Slade is gone…for good?"

Sam nodded, "I watched his body burn before I filled in the grave. Dean dealt with his car."

Even with those words, Oliver was still tense about the situation. Back on the island, he truly believed that he had killed Slade only to have him return to Starling City and be the mastermind behind all the Mirakuru troubles they have been facing. But the billionaire had to take Sam's word for it and based on how in-depth these brothers went to make sure that the job was done…Oliver saw no reason to doubt that Slade was dead this time. The alternative still had him tense.

"Would you relax, Queen?" Dean quipped with a roll of his eyes as he made his way to a side computer terminal to have a look (as well as to sneak a peek into the Big Belly Burger bag that was right beside the terminal), "This isn't the first time we've had to do a cover up." With his back turned, he missed the heated glare that Oliver sent Felicity, basically telling her that she needed to explain just how she had gotten involved with these…criminals.

Felicity sighed as his silent message was received, "I'll explain later Oliver. Right now we need to focus on finding Diggle." She pointed towards her computer system, signalling that she wanted to get back on track. Finding Diggle was their top priority right now. Then later they could deal with all the possibilities that she and Sam had come up with in regards to Slade's true motives at the Queen mansion that evening.

Oliver didn't want to dismiss the issue about the brothers and yet he knew that they needed to find Diggle. So he caved. "Fine, what do you have?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Originally Published on FFN:** March 17, 2014


	6. Calling You Out (2x16 & 9x16)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Chapter Summary:** [Tag on to 2x16] When Oliver is determined to deal with Slade on his own, Felicity can't sit back and let him. She needs to say her peace.
> 
>  
> 
> **Spoiler(s):** everything up to SPN 9x16 ("Blade Runners") and everything up to Arrow 2x16 ("Suicide Squad").  
>  **Time Frame:** This is an altered continuation of the scene when Felicity gives Oliver the latest Slade-address.
> 
> **Inspiration:** I just couldn't help myself! And since there were no Oliver/ Diggle scenes at all (which disappointed me), I needed Felicity to step in and give some insight that I'm sure Diggle would have given to Oliver. I didn't like that Laurel was the one that did so on the show.

****  


* * *

  **"Calling You Out"**

* * *

Felicity was alone in the Foundry when she heard footsteps descending the stairs. Since Diggle was overseas on a mission with the Suicide Squad, and with Sara and Roy keeping watch over Laurel and Thea (respectively), she knew that there could only be one other person that was able to join her.

She quickly got up and met her companion half way.

"I got the address off that account number you gave me," Felicity explained as she passed the address to Oliver. He looked over the address as she moved to pick up her phone, "I'll call Roy and Sara."

Oliver shook his head, "No." He moved to grab his bow from the glass case, "I'm not giving Slade any more targets."

Felicity gave him a disbelieving look, "You can't go out there by yourself. It's suicide."

He stopped and turned, "This started with the two of us." His eyes locked in on hers and she could see just how determined he was to go through with his plan, "That's how it ends."

Before Oliver could move to get ready, Felicity called him out. "I don't care how it started Oliver. You can't go by yourself." She understood that Slade's return had shaken Oliver up but she hadn't realized that it had affected him so much that he'd throw all logic out of the window.

"This isn't up for debate, Felicity." He growled as he whirled around to face her again, "I'm going alone and that's final."

Felicity scoffed, "Then you're a bigger idiot than I thought." She folded her arms over her chest as she gave him a challenging look.

Oliver gawked right at her, not entirely sure he had truly heard her call him an idiot just now.

"Apparently it's something all you men share." She jibed when he said nothing. She knew she was being harsh but the truth hurt. And apparently Oliver needed to wake up and hear it.

"Excuse me?"

Felicity sighed, "He's gotten inside your head, Oliver. He's clouding your judgment because if this were any other bad guy, you would take back-up with you." She knew that she was right and by the tick in his jaw, she knew that he did too. Yet he was too stubborn to admit it.

"This is different. Slade is more dangerous." Oliver argued as if that changed how they should approach the situation.

"All the more reason why you need someone there to watch your back," Felicity fired back as she threw her hands up in front of her. When she saw that he was about to argue against her, she continued on so that he couldn't. She was going to drive her point home. "The Mirakuru inside him gives Slade an advantage over you when it comes to strength, speed and durability," she ticked each of Slade's advantages off of her fingers, "That alone should tell you to bring backup. When you add his _colorful_ resume to the package, you get one deadly man with a vendetta against _you_ …and you want to face him alone? How does that not make you an idiot, Oliver?"

She really didn't want to have to be so blunt with him but she couldn't have him go out on a suicide mission just because his pride was getting in the way. If you have an opponent you try to do everything you can to gain the upper hand. You don't walk in and hope for the best. That may work on a few small fish for Sam and Dean but when it comes to the bigger fish, even those hunters knew that working together and having a plan triumphs over individual attempts. With all her time spent around the Winchesters, Felicity knew what needed to be done in order to win in a fight. If you know there will be one opponent, then you bring others with you so that the odds are in your favor. If you know the opponent will have an army backing him up, then you just bring a bigger and better army with you. You'd do everything you can to sway the odds in your favor and yet Oliver was doing the exact opposite by pulling away from the team.

"I don't have time for this." Oliver scowled before he turned to walk away.

Felicity shook her head. "You're doing exactly what he expects you to do, Oliver." She called out to him and she was pleased to see that her words stopped him in his tracks.

She moved across the Foundry to get back to her seat by her computers yet when he didn't move, with his back still facing her, she sighed.

"While trying to track Slade down, I've had a lot of time to think this all through without any emotional attachment, which is something you, or Sara, can't do in this case." She pointed out yet when he made no comment about it, she continued, "If Slade is the man I think he is then he's the first one, or at least one of the firsts, that trained you on the island. That means he witnessed your transformation from pre-island-you to island-you. He taught you how to think, he taught you how to fight, he taught you how to read and anticipate your opponents."

"What are you getting at, Felicity?" He asked as he turned around to face her. By the look on his face, it was clear that he was frustrated. He wasn't frustrated with Felicity, per say, just the situation. Yet having Felicity rehash everything to him that he already knew was making it a little hard for him not to be frustrated with his IT girl. He just didn't see the point as to why she was rehashing it to him. He needed to leave to find Slade. Why was she keeping him from doing that?

"If Slade is the man that helped form the foundation that was needed to turn you into a fighter then there is a very good chance that he'd know how you'd react if he had ever confronted you off the island after the way you guys left things on the island, what with you trying to kill him and all." She waited a few moments to let that sink in for Oliver before she made her final point, "And I don't need to be Slade Wilson to know what you would do if a threat so great as him was ever placed on you."

While Oliver's face remained stoic, she could see a bunch of emotions swirling in his eyes (even with the distance between them). In those eyes, she could see that he was challenging her to _say it_. To say what she and Slade already knew about him.

She blinked yet her focus never strayed from him, "I would know that you'd push people away and try to deal with it on your own because you wouldn't want to put others in danger." She sighed when she saw his shoulders tense up, "It's not hard to think that Slade would come to that very conclusion too."

Oliver grumbled to himself about how on-point she was in her statements and observations about him and the situation. On some level it unnerved him that this woman was able to piece together something so crucial about his past and make him see sense about it without him having to actually tell her about that part of him. Sometimes he wished she wasn't so observant…but then there are times when he was glad that she was.

The billionaire sighed as he saw no way out of this conversation, "What do you supposed I do then Felicity?" He took a couple of steps towards her, "If he's in my head like you say he is, then I can't win no matter what."

"I never said that."

Oliver tilted his head to the side and narrowed his eyes at her. There was no way that he was going to understand her cryptic statements if she kept them up like this.

Noticing that he wanted her to elaborate, she straightened up in her seat before she did as he wished, "Slade may know how _you_ think and possibly how Sara thinks but he doesn't know how _I_ think or how _John_ thinks. If you allow us to help you Oliver, we can come up with a plan that Slade won't anticipate. We're stronger when we work together."

Oliver sighed, "You don't know that." He didn't want to reign on her optimist parade but sometimes there wasn't any good side to a bad situation. And that is what they were in, a very bad situation.

"But I do. I've seen how either scenario plays out. Teamwork is the way that wins in the end. You just have to trust me on that." She pleaded as she looked to him with big pleading eyes behind her glasses. She needed him to trust her on this fact.

She wanted to tell him how she knew.

She wanted to tell him about two brothers that were put in practically the same scenario yet on a more grandeur scale. She wanted to tell him about how Dean was meant to represent Heaven while his younger brother, Sam, was meant to represent Hell in a fight to the very death…a fight known as the Apocalypse. She wanted to tell Oliver that it took the careful manipulations of both Heaven _and_ Hell to break the bond between the brothers and when they finally accomplished that, it drove the brothers onto separate paths. She wanted to tell him how a trip to the future had shown Dean that being separated from Sam would ultimately bring on the fight they were desperate to prevent. She wanted to tell him how Dean teaming up with Sam again (after returning from the future) had ensured them to not only defeat both Heaven and Hell but in a way that neither side had anticipated because they went outside the box and dealt with the scenario in a way that no one would have thought of. They threw destiny's prophecy for them out the proverbial window.

She desperately wanted to tell Oliver that teamwork was what helped the brothers save the world and it's teamwork that'll help Oliver win against Slade.

And yet she couldn't say any of that to him. She couldn't back her claims up with any evidence because it all sounded like psycho-babble to non-believers; only those who heard it from the source itself or who have read it from Chuck's books would understand. She just hoped that he would trust her word on the issue.

Felicity was taken out of her thoughts when Oliver moved to stand just in front of her chair. He didn't dare to touch her yet she could see that his stoic mask was slowly starting to crumble.

"But he'll come after you and everyone else." Oliver whispered, stunning the blonde when she heard the vulnerability his voice.

She took a risk and moved to grab his hand, giving it a tight squeeze of reassurance to him. "He'll come after all of us whether you include us or not, Oliver." She told him as she looked up at him from her seat, "At least when you include us, we'll have more of a chance to anticipate his next move. We won't be in the dark like he'd hope you would put us in." She gave his hand another squeeze, "Let us help you Oliver. Let's take on Slade together…as a team."

After a while, with her hand still holding his, Oliver slowly nodded his consent, "So where do we begin?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Originally Published on FFN:** March 24, 2014


	7. Plan C (2x19 & 9x17)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Chapter Summary:** [Tag on to 2x19] When the team find Slade waiting for them in the Foundry, it's clear that it's all or nothing for the team. With that in mind, Felicity takes a risk and makes a call that could be a game changer.  
>   
> 
> **Spoiler(s):** everything up to SPN 9x17 ("Mother's Little Helper") and everything up to Arrow 2x19 ("The Man Under the Hood").  
>  **Time Frame:** This is an altered continuation of the 'Slade in the Foundry' scene.
> 
> **Inspiration:** This came to mind immediately after I saw the webclip for the episode (before the episode aired).

* * *

**"Plan C"**

**Part 1**

* * *

"I know Slade." Oliver declared as he and his team descended down the Foundry's stairs. "He's not going to stop to-"

"Welcome home," A menacing voice interrupted Oliver, causing all four team members to stop in their tracks.

Their eyes tracked up and zeroed in on Slade who was completely decked out in his Deathstroke uniform as he stood in the middle of the room. There was no scrap of skin seen. He was completely covered in armor of some kind.

_Oh_ _crap_ , Felicity thought to herself before she noticed the gun he was aiming at them.

Before she realized it, shots were being fired at them.

It was frantic movements between the four of them.

Oliver immediately grabbed Felicity around the waist and jumped over the railing. Once they landed, he quickly pushed her to take cover underneath the metal staircase with him as her human shield.

Slade continued to fire as Sara rushed to take cover behind a pillar. Whenever he could, Diggle returned fire on Slade as he made his way across the Foundry to the power box. Once there, he cut the power to their hideout, causing a darkness to consume them.

Oliver stayed by Felicity's side as Sara made a move to attack Slade from behind with a metal bar (from the salmon ladder). It didn't do much as he grabbed her by the throat.

Felicity squeaked before she started to fumble through her pockets for her phone. She quickly taped into her speed dial before she raised the device to her ear.

"What are you doing?" Oliver hissed at her before he shouted for Diggle to stay away from Slade; Diggle was advancing on Slade while firing off his shots after Sara had been tossed aside like a rag doll.

"Going with Plan C," Felicity rushed before her call was picked up. "Cas! It's Felicity, I need your help!"

" _Felicity? What's wrong?_ " While he wasn't an expert on emotions, he could instantly pick up the distress and fear in her voice.

"He's here. Slade's here and he's going to kill us." She rushed to explain just before Oliver released an enraged yell before he flew forward to get into the fight.

Diggle and Sara were down. Oliver was the last man standing on their team.

_Oh god_.

Felicity gulped at the thought, "I know you have more pressing things to deal with but please Castiel, I'm begging you. Help me."

" _I can't just pop in like I used to Felicity. I'm_ grounded _, I'd never make it in time._ " And he regretted saying that to her because he truly wanted to help her. During the few times he's met her, he remembered that she was a compassionate woman that strived to do what was right for the greater good. She was the rock that held the Winchesters together from what he could remember and because of that he wanted to help but with all his power, he just wouldn't get to her in time. Not like he used to.

"Then use me." Felicity frantically insisted as she watched Oliver and Slade fighting it out. "I give you temporary permission to use me Cas, that's why I'm calling…to _give you permission_." She stressed out before a shout from Oliver was heard. " _Please_!" She never wanted to give such a thing a try (there were extreme risks to her request) but she was desperate.

He sighed, " _Very well_."

The dial tone was heard a second later.

***SPN*Arrow*SPN*Arrow*SPN***

Before Slade could knock Oliver unconscious, the Foundry was bathed in a blinding light that came from beneath the door. Slade had to close his one eye due to the brightness, yet in doing so he was unable to see the blinding light make its way towards Felicity before it pushed itself into her through her mouth.

When Slade uncovered his eye again, straightened himself up and grabbed his sword, he was surprised to see Felicity Smoak standing in front of him. Her back was straight, her legs were shoulder-width apart and her head was tilted to the side a bit as she held an odd looking silver blade in her hand.

Slade chuckled at the side before him. "Do you want to go for a round yourself, Ms. Smoak? It won't be much of a fair fight, mind you."

From his pained position on the floor, Oliver shifted and saw just who Slade was talking to. "Felicity, don't." He grumbled as he tried to force the pain from his sliced shoulder from his mind.

But Felicity never reacted to Oliver. Her eyes were trained on Slade, she even blinked a few times as if she wasn't just threatened by the man with the Mirakuru in him.

"No it won't." Felicity commented with a flat tone as she stared the man down, "But I can assure you Mr. Wilson, only one of us is leaving this basement alive." Her voice was leveled and controlled with no trace of fear that was present in it moments before. It was something Oliver found odd from his place on the ground but he didn't say anything. He couldn't do much in his state. His only saving grace for being alive right now was because Slade wanted him to suffer before he died and dying now wouldn't do it for his former mentor.

From behind his mask, Slade smirked, "My thoughts exactly."

He didn't hesitate to swing his sword out in an attack, only to have it clash with her odd silver blade. With every swing he made at her, she blocked it with ease. It unnerved him to see that as this continued on between them, she wasn't struggling in any way, there was no exhaustion taking over her. She continued to meet every one of his attacks without any strain on herself. This infuriated him even more. He wasn't expecting this. His research showed that she wasn't much of a fighter.

As the fight continued around him, Oliver struggled to prop himself up yet he could only manage to get himself to sit up and lean against her computer station. From this low vantage point, he tried to see the fight before him yet the darkness prevented that. Instead he only had the clash of metal against metal as any indicator as to how the fight was going.

By the time his eyes readjusted to the darkness again, he focused in on the fight just when Slade stabbed his sword into Felicity's abdomen. Her back was to him yet the position of the fighters and the sounds with it gave way to what just happened.

Oliver gave an anguished shout at the sight in front of him. She wasn't supposed to be fighting. She wasn't supposed to get hurt. She wasn't supposed to die for him!

As the pain of losing her was slowly making him numb, he expected Slade to make a taunt about how he was the one to kill her, not the man who held the sword. Yet the taunt never came.

And behind the mask, Oliver could never see the confused expression on Slade's face as he held the sword inside Felicity and yet she didn't budge, she didn't react. It was like the sword wasn't inside her.

She tilted her head to the side as she look up at the man in the mask, "Was that supposed to hurt?" She deadpanned as she blinked up at him. Cold eyes stared back at the masked man.

Slade's eye widened at the statement, frozen by the mere fact that this woman wasn't reacting to the wound in any way. Even with the Mirakuru, he knew that a wound like that would momentarily incapacitate him if the situation were reversed.

As he contemplated the oddity of the situation, he didn't realize that she had gripped his sword hand and twisted it, breaking his wrist in the process before she stabbed him with her blade into his chest, just below his Kevlar chest plate. The blade sliced through the protective material and imbedded itself into his chest cavity. He gasped at the feeling and stumbled back a bit.

Felicity took the opportunity to take the sword out of her body before she slowly advanced on him.

"Like I said, only one of us is walking out of here Mr. Wilson and it won't be you." She firmly declared before she placed a hand on his mask.

Before Slade got a chance to react, a bright light emitted from behind his mask, causing the man to scream out in pain as every organ in his body bubbled at the intense heat it was under. The moment the bright light disappeared was when the screams ended. It was the moment when all of the man's insides were fried. Not even the special serum in his veins could heal him now. The armored man collapsed to the ground as smoke tried to escape from behind his mask.

The woman towered over the dead man with a tilted head once again, as if doing so could give her all the answers she sought out in that penetrating stare of hers. "Such corruption, it's a shame really." She declared before she kneeled down.

And when the lights were turned back on by a limping Sara (who had awoken after the blinding light display), Felicity's form was found hovering over Slade's body before she pulled the blade from his corpse. She straightened up and walked a few steps to a table that had a worn out rag. She picked it up and wiped the blood from the blade while taking no notice of the two sets of eyes focused on her.

Sara slowly limped towards the center of the room as she pressed her fractured wrist to her stomach. Her eyes shifted between Felicity and Slade.

"Is he…?" She trailed off as she looked to Oliver for a confirmation but his eyes were tracking Felicity.

The image of Felicity getting stabbed in the stomach was still fresh in his mind. When the lights had turned back on, Oliver's eyes immediately moved to the sword with high hopes that maybe the pain in his shoulder was making him see things but when he saw the fresh blood (and there was too much of it to just come from his shoulder wound), he quickly fixed his gaze back onto Felicity as she moved around without any signs of her being injured.

"Mr. Wilson will no longer be a problem for you and your team." Felicity responded with her back turned towards the two vigilantes. The monotone of her voice reminded Oliver that something was off. "Unfortunately, I couldn't help in regards to who was helping him in his crusade against you." She finished wiping all traces of the blood off the blade before she set the two down onto the table; it wasn't where the blade was originally hidden but he'd let Felicity deal with that later (he was just glad that he sensed the blade in the lair after arriving). " _She_ only wanted him dead so that he couldn't cause any more harm. Extracting information from him only crossed her mind after I killed him." She explained before she turned around and headed straight for Oliver.

Oliver couldn't help but tense as Felicity approached him. For some odd reason, his instincts were telling him that this woman wasn't Felicity. Yet how would that be possible?

She crouched down beside him only to tilt her head again, "She's insisting that I heal you before I go."

"She? What she?" Sara questioned as she slowly approached Oliver and Felicity. She was still confused about everything.

Oliver looked at Felicity and saw that her blue eyes were a darker shade, almost black if he really thought about it as opposed to the light blue they usually were. But when he looked into her eyes, he didn't get the same feeling as he normally did. He didn't feel at ease, he didn't feel comfort, he didn't feel any trust or love of _any_ kind from her…he felt no connection towards her.

"Who are you?" He whispered to the being posing as Felicity.

Sara gave her boyfriend an incredulous look, "Ollie, what are you talking about? How badly did you hit your head?"

"My name is Castiel but my friends call me Cas." The faux-Felicity introduced with a small smile, completely ignoring Sara's earlier interruption. He seemed pleased that Oliver could tell that something was off (if the fight wasn't enough of an indicator).

Oliver's eyes widened, "You were Plan C."

Castiel nodded, "She didn't want to have to resort to this but we must do things in times of war that we wouldn't normally do." Unknown to the humans, Castiel was thinking back to all that he had to do since he returned to Earth after raising Dean Winchester from Hell.

Oliver's eyes hardened at the mention of war, "Where is she?"

Castiel looked down at Felicity's body, completely ignoring the blood soaked shirt he now wore, "She's inside, resting. I'm just temporarily using her body as a vessel."

"A vessel?"

Castiel nodded, "Yes, with her permission of course. Without it, well I would not have been able to take control of her. She knew that."

"She knew?" Oliver knew that he should be saying more, asking more, but the whole evening was starting to overwhelm him to the point that the pain in his shoulder was starting to creep back into his conscious thought once again. The one thing that did stick was that Felicity knew the risks in making the call and yet she did it anyways.

"Yes. For some time now." Castiel tilted his head to the side again, his eyes shifting between Oliver and his wounded shoulder. "May I heal your wound now? I'll only be able to heal the internal wounds and any that have scarred over after you tended to them down here. I would heal all your scars from your time on the island but that would raise too many questions since many have seen them since your return, have they not?" He explained swiftly yet his tone never showed any concern like Felicity's voice normally would in similar situations.

However Oliver couldn't help but wonder if the rambling was something Castiel was picking up from Felicity since he was temporarily using her body or if the rambling was his quirk as well. He was still trying to process the idea of Felicity being possessed right now…with her consent no less. Who does that, let alone know that stuff?

Oliver exhaled before wincing as he clutched his arm to stop it from moving, "Do what you can." He was skeptical that Castiel could heal his wounds like he claimed that he was able to do.

"I could do the same for you Ms. Lance if you want." Castiel offered before he placed two fingers to Oliver's forehead. In a blink of an eye, Oliver felt refreshed, clear-headed and no ounce of physical pain when moments before that was all he felt, the pain that resonated through his own body. His glaze quickly turned to his wounded shoulder only to find that he could move and rotate it with ease. Even the quick movement of his head didn't case a headache to occur after the punches that Slade had landed on his head. He felt like he did before they entered the Foundry…possibly even better. Oliver looked up and gave Sara a wide-eyed look before he shifted to look at Castiel.

Sara gulped, "Oh, um, okay." She agreed after taking in Oliver's reaction to Castiel's _healing touch_. She would do anything to avoid a trip to the hospital.

Castiel nodded before he stood and walked towards Sara. He placed two fingers to her forehead for a moment or two before he moved away from her. It was Sara's turned to have a wide-eyed look as she tested out her healed limbs while Castiel made his way towards an unconscious Diggle who was still surrounded by broken glass.

Instead of healing him on the spot, Castiel bent down and picked Diggle up as if he weighed nothing to him. Both vigilantes stared in shock at the display because to them, it still looked like it was _Felicity_ that was carrying Diggle to a no-glass-zone…Felicity's computer chair. Once settled, Castiel placed two fingers to Diggle's forehead but when he finished, Diggle didn't wake up despite his new wounds being all healed. Castiel wasn't worried though; he figured that the human would wake up in a few moments.

Before Castiel could dwell on the predicament for much longer, Oliver spoke up after he stood up, "Why help us?"

Castiel turned his head and was somewhat thankful for the distance between him and Oliver, with the billionaire standing that left Castiel to be the shorter one between them. "Like I said, I know Felicity and for a human, she's got a solid judge of character. She wouldn't have risked her life and made her call to me if she didn't believe in those she was trying to save." He declared and when Sara moved to watch over Diggle, Castiel moved to approach Oliver. He wanted a bit of privacy between himself and the human before him; he just felt Felicity's need to close the distance deep within her vessel. It wasn't the only thing that Castiel was feeling from his current vessel, "And even right now I can feel how much she truly believes in you Mr. Queen."

Oliver tilted his gaze as he looked down at Castiel. It was weird to see Felicity's face and yet behind that held a powerful being that not only stopped Slade but had also healed them of any evidence of Slade's visit to them. But when he looked into Felicity's eyes, Castiel's specific wording came back to him.

"For a human?"

Castiel smirked up at the human, "Surely you must realize Mr. Queen that I'm not exactly human."

Oliver gulped, he had suspected yet he didn't want to be true, "Then what are you?"

"I'm an angel of the lord and I've served my purpose here. I have a war of my own that I need to get back to." He sighed at the thought of what awaited him before he focused back on Oliver. "Tell Felicity to call Dean when she wakes up. She won't remember this, not at first."

Oliver's brow scrunched up at the mention of the new name, "Dean?"

Castiel nodded, "She knows who he is. Now you might want to get ready to catch her in a few moments." He answered as he invaded Oliver's personal space. The angel didn't want Felicity to slump to the floor after his departure. She may have been healed from all her wounds but falling on the ground would still hurt her once she woke up. The angel even ignored the little protests from within his vessel as he invaded the vigilante's space.

Oliver's eyes widened, "What?" He wanted to take a step back from the powerful being but the new grip on his arms stopped him. When he looked down and saw that Felicity's hands were stopping his retreat, it took a moment for him to realize that while it was Felicity's hand that was touching his arms, it was Castiel's strength that was keeping him in place. He took that as a sign to obey the angel.

"And shut your eyes." Castiel advised a bit loudly with a squeeze of assurance to his arms. "It's been a pleasure to finally meet you Oliver Queen. You've come a long way." Castiel declared lowly before a dull light started to emit from Felicity's body.

Oliver and Sara quickly closed their eyes before the intensity of the light increased to a blinding level. A slight ringing in their ears was heard before a gasp came from Felicity's body.

Once the unnatural light disappeared from the room, Felicity's body went limp. When feeling her body sag, Oliver didn't hesitate in tightening his hold around her and bring her into his body while silently thanking Castiel for his previously confusing warning.

When Felicity was secure against him, Oliver moved his hand around so that he could check her pulse. When he was relieved by the strong rhythm he was picking up, his hand started trailing down her body until it hovered over the darkened material of her jacket. He knew that his hands shouldn't be wandering but he needed to know. His fingers ran over the fabric that covered her midsection but when they came across the clear slit in the fabric, his fingers stilled. He hadn't been seeing things. Felicity _was_ stabbed by Slade's sword…or was it Castiel…did Felicity feel it? He felt this urge to just check the bare entry wound himself to see if she was healed too or not but that would cross a line. Wouldn't it?

Before he could cross the line, a loud groan caught his attention. He turned his head and saw Diggle coming around while Sara stood beside him to make sure his grogginess didn't get him to slide out of the chair.

"What the hell happened?" Diggle grumbled as he lifted his head while rubbing at his eyes.

When he finally opened them and saw the destruction of the Foundry, confusion flooded his system for a moment before the memories came back to him. He quickly looked to the shattered glass casing before he looked down at himself to check for any wounds. He was surprised to find none. His surprise only grew when his eyes finally landed on Slade's dead body.

Sara sighed, "That's what I would like to know." She patted Diggle on the back while she looked at Oliver, or more specifically when she looked at Felicity.

Oliver followed Sara's eyes and looked down at the unconscious girl leaning against him while his arms were around her.

"You aren't the only one." He mumbled as many questions started formulating in his mind.

The first one being how (and when) did Felicity befriend an actual angel?

* * *

**Part 2**

* * *

It didn't take long for Felicity to come to. She groaned and wriggled a bit while in Oliver's arms.

"What happened?" She mumbled while her eyes were still closed. She felt too cozy where she was that she didn't want to ruin the feeling by opening her eyes.

"Apparently you have an angel as your friend." Oliver replied and it shocked her just how close his voice was to her…or that she felt a slight rumbling by her head when he spoke.

"Cas was here?" She opened her eyes and was shocked to find that she was leaning against Oliver. She tried the best she could to hide her shock and slight awkwardness that came from their close proximity (something that should not be happening no matter how many times she's fantasized about it).

Instead of focusing on Diggle and Sara (who were watching her closely), she looked up at Oliver for an answer. He only gave her a nod.

"It worked?" She asked again as she tried to remember everything that happened after she had called Castiel. Her mind came up with nothing.

Oliver raised an eyebrow up at his IT girl, "You sound surprised."

Felicity sighed. "It's… complicated."

She didn't want to say that she didn't remember any of it. She knew there was a chance that she'd never remember being possessed but Sam was able to recall the times when Gadreel had taken control over him so she figured that she could do the same. She just didn't know how Sam had done it. So for now, she was in the dark about what Castiel did while in her body…which sounded oddly weird now that she thought of it that way.

As her eyes lowered from Oliver's and scanned the room, she quickly took notice of the dead body that was left in the middle of the Foundry. _I guess that's one mystery solved,_ she thought before she registered the rest of the damage around her.

"I'm just glad that it worked." She continued as her eyes stayed on Slade's dead form.

"Me too but you have a lot of explaining to do." Oliver nodded as his hand trailed down to her elbow, tugging on it to gain her attention again.

Felicity sighed as she turned her head to face him, "I know. I should have told you." And she knew that she should have but when was the right time to drop a bombshell like 'angels are real' onto them?

"We'll get to that after you tell me why Castiel said that your call to him was a risk on your part. What did that mean?" He calmly asked even though he was anything but calm. He'd been running the angel's words on a loop in his head as he waited for Felicity to wake up and yet all the ideas he came up with, they didn't lighten his mood one bit. And when he felt her stiffen in his arms after his question, it only caused dread to fill his mind. When she started to avoid his gaze, it only caused the dread to increase inside him.

When she only bit her lower lip in a way that he's come to know as a nervous quirk of hers, her softly called her name again in hopes of it putting her at ease for a bit.

It seemed to work when her shoulders sagged.

"It's a risk because not every human is powerful enough to contain an angel's grace within them." She softly confessed as she continued to stare at his shoulder, the one that Slade had cut during their fight earlier. It wasn't bleeding now thanks to Castiel yet the shirt was still ripped. That rip was keeping her eyes from drifting to Oliver's. She couldn't look him in the eyes.

"Meaning what exactly?"

Felicity sighed, "Well, if my body wasn't a viable vessel for an angel, let's just say that I would have exploded like a bowl of chunky soup. That's Chuck's description but I really hope that's just a graphic exaggeration otherwise I'm sworn off chunky soup for life." She rambled yet it came to a stop when Oliver took a step back, putting some space between him and Felicity. Because of this new change, she looked from his shoulder to his face and saw how his eyes had hardened as he looked at her.

"Are you telling me that you gave Castiel permission to possess you while not knowing whether or not you were a viable vessel for him?" While he may not understand the logistics behind angel possessions (he was still trying to process the fact that angels _could_ possess humans), the idea that there was a chance that Felicity could have died immediately after taking in the angel did not sit well with the billionaire at all.

Her lips thinned into a grimace. "It's not like I tested the viability theory out on me before but I tracked my lineage to someone who was a viable vessel." She turned and marched towards the main computer terminal. She bypassed Sara and Diggle as they remained silent spectators of the whole conversation as they tried to piece their own pieces together of what happened. Since they were positioned by her terminal, they just swiveled around so that they could watch what Felicity was doing.

She tapped a few sequences into her network before she allowed herself to access a hidden network of files that she created for Sam and Dean. One of those files consisted of an archive she had created of all humans that were killed while being possessed by angels. Every crime scene report had images of the body that had burned out eyes and a shadow of wings beneath the body. While she could never identify the murdered angels, she would use facial recognition on the human vessels and then track down the bloodlines through the human family trees. It always took time yet she was determined to connect those theoretical ties. During her research, she discovered that one of her ancestors from a century ago came from the same family tree as an ancestor of Jimmy Novak, the human that Castiel was originally possessing.

"And since vessels are carried out through specific bloodlines, I gave it a shot." She finished before she turned to face Oliver, with her hands on her hips as she stood in a defiant manner. She didn't care that the attention of Sara and Diggle had shifted to her files…she did bring it up for them to see, Oliver too yet he hadn't moved to check the information out.

Oliver gave her an incredulous look, "You gave it a shot?"

Felicity huffed as she threw her hands up, "It worked didn't it?"

Oliver scoffed, "Yeah but you only had a _theory_ that you'd be viable for Castiel! What if you were wrong?"

"I wasn't."

"Felicity," the billionaire scowled at her.

She sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose. She could feel all eyes on her again, "I get it okay. Viable vessels isn't an exact science but once you've figured out which ones are viable you can work backwards which is what I've been doing since I learned that angels were truly real." She pointed towards her computer screen yet Oliver didn't even glance away from her. Seeing him not budge, she continued to state her case, "I mean, Cas even thought that the theory was sound when I first presented it to him a while back. And even if I didn't have my theory, I would still make the call and take my chances with Cas if it meant saving you guys from Slade." This time she pointed at the dead body in question, "And by the looks of it, it was the right call. I mean, you guys take risks every day; it was my turn to take a risk for the team."

Oliver's sour mood deflated at the reminder, "I would never ask you to take such a risk."

"Then it's a good thing that you didn't ask me to. I chose to. My life, my choice, remember?" She quirked an eyebrow while fighting off a smile. She knew he'd never ask her to take any risks but she would always take them if she believed that doing so would turn the outcome into the team's favor, into Oliver's favor.

Oliver sighed as he dragged his hand over his face. "I still can't wrap my head around it."

Felicity gave him a comforting smile, "That's okay. It took me some time to wrap my head around it too."

Realizing that the hostile tension between his teammates had diminished, Diggle shifted in his seat and spoke, "How long have you known?"

Diggle's voice brought his presence back to Oliver and Felicity's mind; they had a tendency of forming a bubble around them, especially when they disagreed with each other.

"About a year or two before your-" she turned and addressed Oliver, "-first return from the island. I kind of grew up with the idea because of my Uncle Frank's conspiracy theories about it but I learned the truth of it all two years ago when I was slammed into that…world." She turned to address Diggle again, "Learning something like that changes you." Since that was the first time she brought up her late Uncle Frank, she was grateful that they didn't ask her about him but she knew that they would store that little bit of information away for later. She wouldn't expect anything less from them.

"I can see how." Diggle nodded; although he wasn't awake during her possession, the snippets he heard about the ordeal gave him the impression that what had happened wasn't something a person could easily forget or brush off afterwards.

Felicity shook her head, "You've only seen a part of that world. There is so much more to it than angels."

Oliver took a few steps towards the computers until he stood beside Felicity while having an unobstructed view of the electronic screen. "Why didn't you tell us before?"

"I didn't want to burden you with it." She admitted with a shrug while she stared at the screen that Sara was flicking through. "With everything that was happening, I didn't want to place any more weight on your shoulders." She shifted and looked at the billionaire, "You had enough to worry about in your own life. I didn't need to bring up burdens from my past if it wasn't necessary."

Oliver didn't know what to say to that (he never wanted her to feel like she couldn't share anything with him) but luckily Diggle did. "Your past is not a burden Felicity, it helped create the person you are today."

Felicity turned a bit and gave the man who she loved as a brother a small grateful smile. "While that may be Digg, it's still a burden to know and for the years that I've known about it, it's consumed my life to the point that I couldn't really tell you anything without it seeping in on some level. Truly knowing about…that, it completely changes how you view the world around you. It's truly a miracle that I haven't gone insane already." She tried to explain without giving too much of the actual details away because she truly didn't want to burden them with the knowledge of the supernatural world. Oliver was still dealing with his time on the island and Diggle still had some issues from his time in the military. And Sara, well, she was stilling reeling from her time on the island and with the League of Assassins. Those deep-seeded _human_ issues were enough for them and Felicity didn't want to add anything else to that.

"It can't be that bad." Sara added as an attempt to lighten the topic because in her mind, nothing was worse than her time on the island (even her time with the League made her time on the island seem like a cake walk).

Felicity sighed as she shook her head, "You either accept the truth and do something about it, or you bury it. Many people choose to bury it while others embrace it and take action against it. You either do something or you do nothing."

"And where do you fall?" Diggle asked.

Felicity allowed a faint smile to appear, "I'm in the middle. I've embraced the truth and try to help any way I can but I don't take action like Sam and Dean do. They're fully invested, whether they like it or not." She typed a few other commands into the computer before another program popped up.

The three fighters turned and saw that the program was sifting through newspaper articles for anything that matched the program's perimeters. What the fighters didn't know was that Felicity had created the program to allow for her to search for any signs of a supernatural hunt. Usually she would let it run idle but if she needed to find a specific perpetrator (like possible demon activity), she would use the program to help narrow her search down. She would then transfer her findings to the Winchester brothers.

"Sam and Dean?" Oliver questioned after realizing that he didn't know what the program was meant for. It looked like one of the programs he had seen her use for Arrow-work but some of the parameters didn't make sense to him. So instead he focused on what she had said because it reminded him of what Castiel had said to him before he left.

_"Tell Felicity to call Dean when she wakes up. She won't remember this, not at first."_

_Oliver's brow scrunched up at the mention of the new name, "Dean?"_

_Castiel nodded, "She knows who he is."_

"Yeah," Felicity said, breaking Oliver out of his memory of Castiel, "they introduced me to Cas and they're the ones that revealed the truth to me after they saved my life. They are the best of the best at what they do. They are legends in that world, feared by all that stand in their way of doing what is right." She admitted with a proud smile before she took on a more somber attitude, "They kind of had to tell me when I was being targeted by something they were hunting."

Three heads immediately turned to stare at her, each with wide eyes. They couldn't understand what could have targeted her. They hoped it wasn't angels.

"You were a target?" Sara couldn't help but ask as the men were speechless at the mere idea of Felicity being targeted for anything before she got involved with the vigilante.

Felicity waved her hand dismissively, "Story for another time. Anyways, they're brothers that grew up in the life. They've been aware of it and have been training for it before they were teenagers." She always felt awed and saddened whenever she thought of the childhood that the Winchesters had experienced. They definitely made the best of their situation while others would have probably given up if placed in their positions.

Before she could reveal anything else about the brothers, Felicity noticed the confusion on Oliver's face.

"What is it?"

"Before leaving, Castiel told me to tell you to call Dean once you woke up." Oliver explained even though he didn't understand why Felicity needed to call this Dean fellow. Shouldn't she be calling Castiel to tell him that she's awake and okay?

"I better go do that. I don't want to worry Dean more than necessary. He's got enough on his plate. I'll just be a moment." She didn't even question the idea. She quickly moved to the back of the Foundry to grab her phone (which she figured she had dropped once Castiel had taken control over her since he hadn't returned it to her pockets). If Castiel wanted her to call Dean then he must have known about the possession (maybe Castiel had been tracking with the Winchesters again) or Castiel was too busy getting back to tracking down Metatron so he wanted her to check in with Dean afterwards. Either way, she would make the call.

When Felicity was out of earshot, Sara turned to Oliver, "Are you buying any of this?"

Diggle rolled his eyes at the doubtful statement as he turned his attention to the computer. Whether he was conscious or not during the angel's presence, he believed Felicity. He just hoped that Oliver believed her too as opposed to being doubtful like Sara seemed to be.

"You didn't see what I did, Sara." Oliver pointed out as his attention remained on Felicity (who was now pacing on the other side of the Foundry as she talked on the phone), "And stranger things have happened."

Sara shook her head, "But angels, Ollie? That's a little far-fetched, even for us."

"You didn't see what I did," He repeated as the memory looped through his mind once more.

No matter what Sara thought, Oliver knew that what Felicity told them was the truth. He just had to get over the fact that she had kept it from him. Maybe he'll work on that after he's processed the fact that there was a lot more to his IT girl than he originally thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Disclaimer:** Any recognizable dialogue is from Arrow 2x19 ("The Man Under the Hood").
> 
> **Angel Possession Clarification:** In my mind, Castiel's original vessel (Jimmy Novak) is solely his own so when he left it to possess Felicity, he was able to freely return to the body of Jimmy without another permission. I figured since Castiel was able to be turned into a human while in Jimmy's body then Jimmy must not be 'home' anymore. Also when an angel possesses a human, they have access to all the human's memories (and emotions) yet the human has no access to the angel's memories. After the angel leaves, the human may remember the time when they were possessed but they really have to focus on remembering it otherwise they draw a blank.
> 
> **When did Castiel meet Felicity?**  
>  In my head, I have her meeting him when he was "Crazy Castiel" (end of SPN Season 7).
> 
> **In this verse:**  
>  \- Felicity is distantly related to Jimmy Novak (they each have an ancestor that was part of the same family tree a century ago)  
> \- Frank Devereaux is the maternal uncle to Felicity (Frank is introduced in SPN 7x06)
> 
>    
>  **Originally Published on FFN:**  
>  \- Part 1 = April 16, 2014  
> \- Part 2 = May 2, 2014


	8. Soulless Scenarios (2x17 & 9x17)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Chapter Summary:** [Tag on to 2x17] Not wanting to leave Roy alone after his breakup with Thea, Felicity gives some unexpected insight into his situation.
> 
>  
> 
> **Spoiler(s):** everything up to SPN 9x17 ("Mother's Little Helper") and everything up to Arrow 2x17 ("Birds of Prey").  
>  **Time Frame:** This happens at the end but instead of Felicity leaving the lair with Diggle, she stays behind with Roy.
> 
> **Inspiration:** I was writing this before the "A Twisted Ultimatum" 3-parter came to my mind.

* * *

  **"Soulless Scenarios"**

**Part 1**

* * *

Roy was watching Thea through the Verdant security cameras. After how he orchestrated the break up, he thought she would have left the building just to avoid him yet she didn't know that he was still in the basement. So he sat at one of the stations and watched as she wiped her tears away every so often as she tried to work through the club's paperwork. He hated what he did but he knew he had to. Oliver was right…he was a danger to Thea.

He was so focused on the video feed that he never realized that Felicity had stayed behind while Diggle had left shortly after gripping Roy's shoulder as a sign of his support. The Mirakuru in him should have picked up how Felicity's scent was still fresh in the air or that he hadn't heard her heels recede as she left the Foundry. He didn't notice any of that…he was too focused on what he had done to Thea. The guilt was drowning him inside.

So when Felicity softly asked him how he was doing, he was startled.

"I've been better," He answered gruffly as he watched the empty feed. Thea had left the premises a few moments ago.

"I'm sorry it had to come to this." She bit her lower lip, contemplating on whether she should say anything else. She caved on that decision, "I know how much you care for Thea."

He ran his hand through his hair yet he never looked at her, "I almost broke some guy's collarbone earlier today just because he bumped into me." He sighed as he shook his head, "I hate it but Oliver was right, as long as I'm with her, I put Thea in danger."

Felicity couldn't help the look of pity she had for the younger man, everything was just stacking against him and it was affecting the one good thing he truly had in his life…Thea.

She quickly schooled her features and walked towards him until she could lean her hip against the metal table. Roy's attention was focused on the bracelet he had given Thea earlier, which now sat on the metal table top.

"Not entirely true but I understand what Oliver is getting at." She stated while she remained standing. She didn't make herself comfortable beside Roy, she didn't know if she was truly welcome in his space or not.

He tilted his head and looked up at her. She could see the slight confusion swirling in his eyes. He wanted her to explain yet he didn't want to outright ask. He was lucky that she recognized that look.

"Like it not, you're a danger to _everyone_ now Roy, not just Thea. You're like a live wire," She gave him a sad smile, she hated having to say it but it was true, "the smallest thing could set you off because the Mirakuru not only gave you these extra abilities but it seemed to tear down a part of you in the process." When she noticed his brow scrunching up out of confusion, she hurried to explain, "Like in exchange for the extra strength and healing, a part of your control was taken away from you to compensate for the new traits, which means the simplest things could now set you off."

Roy blinked at her. He never really thought of it like that before. Oliver and Sara never really explained the Mirakuru like that before. It made him wonder how Felicity could come up with such an analogy when the _experts_ on the team hadn't done so.

Roy swiveled around so that he was facing the petite woman, "You seem to know what you're talking about."

Felicity shrugged while trying to not meet his eyes, "Well, I've been trying to work out a theory but I never wanted to say it just in case I was off base with it. I didn't want to give the wrong impression or any false hope."

He noticed her inability to make eye contact with him, which he thought was odd. It made him feel like she was hiding something from him or she was trying to say more without actually saying more to him. It was frustrating.

Instead of trying to figure it out, he decided to just ask, "Can I hear it?"

Felicity's head snapped up, her eyes wide as she stared at him. It was clear that she hadn't expected him to ask. It was another observation he found to be odd. _Why bring up a theory if you weren't planning to talk about it?_ He wondered as he looked at her.

When she didn't make a move to talk, a surprising first for him to witness, he quickly moved to justify his curiosity, in hopes that it would convince her to share her theory with him.

"I mean if it's just a theory then maybe I could confirm or deny some things since I am the one with Mirakuru in him." He started talking and before he knew it, he was rambling on, "I mean it's not like you're going to ask Slade Wilson about it. Even if you did, I doubt he'd be truthful to you."

Felicity giggled, "I'm not that desperate to prove my theory."

A small smile appeared on Roy's face, "So then tell me."

Her giggles instantly died down and it was replaced with her nibbling on her lower lip.

His smile turned into a sheepish one, "I think it would help me just to hear your take on all of…this." He finished with a sigh.

She gave a sigh of her own. "It's kind of out there and the basis behind it, well you may not believe it." She warned before she hopped up onto the metal table and made herself comfortable.

Roy quirked an eyebrow at the woman (for both the warning and her new position), "I'm not budging Smoak so lay it on me." He leaned back and waved his arms around, as if he was gesturing to her to take the proverbial stage, "What is this theory of yours?"

***SPN*Arrow*SPN*Arrow*SPN***

Felicity exhaled deeply as she tried to figure out how to explain her theory without losing Roy's attention. She truly believed that there was merit behind her theory...even though she couldn't check other psychology or philosophy books to see if she got the theoretical aspects correct. She was going in blind when it came to this Mirakuru theory of hers and she hoped that Roy would just give her a chance to explain and justify her thoughts.

"It's more of a mashup of theories." She started off slowly, "You see, I have this friend and we used to go into these long discussions about what differentiated us from everyone else…what made us more or less human from another being." She looked down from her perch and saw that he was looking up at her, bemused.

"You had conversations like that?" Roy asked while trying to hold off his smirk. He was intrigued at the idea that Felicity would have such philosophical discussions, although it wasn't completely surprising. Felicity was a smart woman.

"We talk about crazy stuff like that." She waved her hand in a dismissive manner, "Anyways, many of our more recent conversations revolved around a human soul and what it essentially is." She sighed as she thought back on the subject, her eyes glassed over a bit as she looked ahead, "We were basically trying to figure out when it was okay to execute certain maneuvers and when it wasn't. Kind of like the question when is it okay to kill and when is it not okay."

Roy frowned, "Isn't it never okay to kill?"

She waved her hand again, "It depends on the situation and that is beside the point." She looked back down at him, "But you see what I mean about possible discussions from talks like that."

"Sort of," He lifted his hand to the back of his head and he started scratching it, "I'm still stuck on the fact that you actually talked about human souls like it's an actual concept. I mean, isn't it just some religious or spiritual thing that people believe we all have?" He asked; his bafflement evident in his expression.

"Kind of." Felicity exhaled deeply, mentally preparing herself for the words she was about to spew out, "Basically a human soul is a person's essence and without it, the body reverts to its instincts. A soul allows a human to feel all emotions and function accordingly but without it, we might as well be animals." She tilted her head to the side, "Although we'd be animals that can walk on two legs without a problem, but still, we'd be animals nonetheless. And I'm not saying that animals can't feel emotions or anything but it's not like we can know for certain if they feel the same emotions that we humans do." She rambled on until Roy had to actually wave his hands in front of her in order for her to stop talking. The gestures seem to have caught her attention like he had hoped.

She blinked at him and he could see the early signs of a blush starting to form on her skin.

"Hold up," Roy inhaled deeply, "a body can survive without a soul?"

She nodded her head.

"Okay," he exhaled and closed his eyes as he started to rub at his temples, "I'm just going to assume that this is all legit to avoid the headache I'm pretty sure I'm going to get but what's the point?" He looked back up at her, "How is this connected to my situation?"

Felicity sighed, "Well, without a soul, the person would have no moral compass…no filter. They would not feel the simplest of emotions like sadness, anger, joy or happiness and instead they function on pure instinct. All their actions would revolve around what they wanted, with all consequences be damned." She sighed again as she shook her head in disappointment, as if the very thought saddened her, "So with that in mind let's apply it to you."

"Please do before I get that headache." He could already feel one creeping up on him.

Felicity held her hands out before her, kind of as if she were balancing a scale. "Pre-Mirakuru-You would be the soulful version of you. Right?" She stated as she held her left hand out.

Roy blinked, "…Right."

"And a No-Soul-You," she swapped her hands so that her right one was now out and closer to him, "would be you without any restraint whatsoever. If you wanted to kill someone, you would without hesitation and you'd feel nothing for it."

Roy cringed at the thought but he did notice the two ends of the spectrum that she had just displayed for him.

"If you broke the law, you'd feel no guilt over doing so. If you wanted sex," she couldn't help but blush when she brought it up, "you'd go out and get it but you'd only feel the physical gratification it would give you…basically a no-strings attached hook-up for soulless you." She struggled a bit at the end.

Roy smirked at her while hoping that she didn't notice his own discomfort when she started talking about sex. He loved Felicity but talking about sex with her was just…weird.

Ignoring his amusement, Felicity pushed forward, "If you were part of some celebration, you wouldn't feel the happiness that everyone around you was experiencing in that moment. It would just be a party for you that would give you free food and possible sex." She swallowed nervously at the end; it was completely weird for her to talk about sex with Roy. Either way, the way she understood it was that a person without a soul could be thought of as a terminator or a replicant; she remembered vaguely that Dean had used those comparisons at some point when she asked him long ago. "At least that's my understanding of it," she muttered a few moments later.

Roy signed, "So No-Soul-Me would be an immorally dangerous douchebag?"

She nodded, "Basically yeah. No-Soul-Anyone would be like that to some extent if they don't go insane first." She thought back to when Dean had told her about how vicious Sam had been when he had no soul. He'd hurt (maybe even killed) anyone that got in his way and there was a time where Soulless-Sam was willing to kill Bobby (the man he viewed as a second father to him) to save his own ass. Felicity was just glad to hear that Dean had stopped Soulless-Sam before it was too late to save Bobby.

"But where does that leave Mirakuru-Me?" Roy's nose scrunched up in thought, "Somewhere in the middle?"

Felicity nodded again as she shifted in her spot on the metal table, "Precisely. The way I see it, gaining inhuman abilities from the Mirakuru caused some of your human soul to strip away but not all the way since you can still obviously feel but the filter and restraint you had before, it seems to have somewhat deteriorated which is why you're having trouble controlling your emotions therefore leading to controlling issues over your new skill set." She explained quickly as her hands flew all over the place.

Roy's nose scrunched up again as he tried to process the analogy. "So like in a video game," he asked a few moments later, "the Mirakuru switched out a few necessities that I had in my usually full yet solid inventory?" It was the only comparison he could think of. He could remember playing video games at the youth center when things were too tense at home. He remembered how some games required his player to collect items yet he could only hold so much with him at one point. There were times where he had to plan which items to keep with his avatar in order for him to advance to the next level.

Felicity gave the comparison some thought. "I guess you can think of it like that." She hopped off the table and headed towards her work station, "Or like with a full computer tower." She called back to him before she opened up one terminal for Roy to see.

When she turned around and noticed that he had followed her to the terminal, she started pointing at the different components in her system. "In order to fit in a new drive with the latest updates you'd have to swap it out with a drive that was already in the tower but taking out that drive meant losing some valuable software." She explained as she made the gesture of pulling out a drive and swapping in another without actually touching the terminal pieces.

Roy nodded; it made sense to him, "Any way to fix it?"

She pursed her lips together, "You'd need to learn 22-years' worth of self-restraint all over again." She suggested as she closed the computer terminal and walked back to her computers to take a seat.

Roy blinked with a thin-lipped expression on his face, "Which currently doesn't help me with Thea."

"In the long run it would though," Felicity pointed out in hopes of uplifting the current mood. When it didn't look like her comment had the effect she had hoped, Felicity sighed.

Roy turned his head slightly to look at her; he didn't have to move much since she was sitting while he was standing this time.

"I mean, I get that you didn't want to break her heart but whether or not you broke things off with her, Thea would still be in danger because of Slade and for being a Queen." Felicity gave him a sad smile when she saw his eyes widen by her words.

She hated saying those words and yet it felt good for her to say them. It seemed like it was something Oliver hadn't grasped yet about the situation.

"Your break-up just eliminates one threat from her life even though I think she's the one person who could anchor you." Felicity continued while keeping her eye contact with Roy, "And at least if you were with her then you could provide an obstacle for Slade because he'd have to go through you to get to Thea and I know you'd do anything to protect her."

Roy couldn't believe what he was hearing. "So you don't agree with Oliver?"

She lowered her gaze as she shook her head, "What Oliver fails to see is that just because you break up with someone and keep your distance, it doesn't mean the target is off their back," she exhaled deeply, as if she was preparing herself for her next words, "The only way the target will go away is if they are physically removed from the situation," she shifted her gaze back to him, "you know the whole ' _out of sight, out of mind_ ' thing or if that person truly has no hold over you." She choked up a bit at the end, which only had Roy thinking that there was more to what she was saying.

And there was.

For Felicity, that mantra was a nasty reminder for her. When Sam and Dean had rescued her from the Leviathans, she had wanted to stay with them in the beginning. She wanted to help and learn about the supernatural so that she could better protect herself from that world but the surviving Leviathans soon realized that Felicity was part of the Winchesters' inner circle. Once they learned that, they started targeting her like they had done to Bobby. They wanted to use her to get to the brothers and since they had lost Bobby to the Leviathans in that manner (which happened long before the brothers had met Felicity), they didn't want that to happen to their new friend. So Felicity agreed to uproot her life and go into hiding and since she was a technical genius, she didn't mind having to change her records around. Eventually, Felicity was a forgotten face for the Leviathans and as long as no one knew of her connection to the Winchesters, she was safe. She hated that she couldn't be there for Sam and Dean and yet she understood why she had to stay hidden.

Felicity shook herself out of her thoughts and cleared her throat. "Take Oliver and Thea for example." She continued as if she hadn't been lost in her thoughts, and Roy let her, "Even though Thea is in the dark about Oliver's nightly antics," she waved around the Foundry to make it clear just what she was referring to, turning her away from him in the process, "she can still be used against him because she's his sister. Even Laurel could be applied to that conclusion -" Roy raised an eyebrow at her at the mention of Laurel and she never noticed his reaction, "- because even though they aren't romantically involved anymore, Laurel still has a special place in Oliver's heart which makes her a target to his enemies." She turned back to look at the younger man, "Does that make sense?"

Roy tilted his head to the side, "You seem to know a lot about the situation." He understood alright, there was a lot more to Felicity Smoak than he initially thought.

Felicity shrugged, "Like I said, I know a friend and let's just say that he and his brother deal with a lot of the same things that we do." Roy quirked an eyebrow for her implication, she just sighed. "The only difference is," she stared him down and he could see behind her glasses this sadden look within her eyes, "that they don't make as many attachments with people as we seem to do."

"Is it easier that way…the no attachments thing?" He couldn't help but ask. He always thought of himself as a lone wolf but ever since he joined up with Team Arrow, he couldn't see any other way to function than on that team. Mirakuru or not, he didn't think he'd want solo missions after experiencing the support and teamwork he got from the Arrow team.

Felicity looked away as she gave it some thought. "When it comes to the job, yes, but personally, it's lonely," she started with a sigh. "At the end of the day, it's just the two of them against the world and whatever friends they have left that are still alive. Even then, all those friends are scattered around so their support is given from afar." She looked up and gave him a meaningful look.

_It's not like what we have here._

She didn't have to say it for him to get the message. And he understood it loud and clear. Whatever these brothers did, Felicity commended them and yet she was worried about them too.

* * *

  **Part 2**

* * *

Before anything else could be said on the matter, a loud vibrating metal sound filled the silence.

The attention of the duo quickly turned to the device on the far end of the main computer terminal. Felicity's eyes widened when she took a look at the screen.

_Sam._

"Oh, I need to take this." She announced quickly before looking back up at Roy.

With his curiosity peaked (since he knew that it wasn't a team member calling her), he gestured towards her phone. "Go ahead."

Felicity bobbed her head as she accepted the call.

"Hey Sam, how was Illinois?" She twirled around in her chair, in hopes of giving herself a bit of privacy from Roy, "Are you still there or are you in the Bunker now?"

Roy backed up towards Oliver's weapon display case as he tried to hold in his snickers. Even with Felicity turned away from him, Roy could still hear both sides to the phone conversation thanks to the Mirakuru. He knew that if he was further away from her, like near the training mats, then he wouldn't be able to hear both sides but he could hear the call just fine despite the distance Felicity tried to make by turning away from him. It amused Roy that Felicity seemed to have forgotten the fact that the Mirakuru had enhanced more than his strength and immune system. He blamed her forgetfulness on the fact that she seemed anxious to take the call with this Sam fellow and Roy's curiosity wasn't just going to leave him alone…maybe if he had another diversion to focus on he wouldn't eavesdrop on Felicity's call but sadly, the young man didn't have one. Felicity was meant to distract him from his mess with Thea after all.

A deep chuckle from the other end caused Roy to focus back onto the phone call.

" _Slow down Smoak._ " Sam said after a small laugh, " _I'm at the Bunker._ "

Felicity released the breath she didn't realize that she was holding in, "Oh, that's good. That means you finished the case right?" Her brow scrunched up in thought, "Then again, you could have retreated back to the Bunker because it was such a massive case to take on by yourself…which I hope it wasn't because that would be _very_ bad to leave a case unsolved." She got herself more worked up the more she thought out the scenario.

Roy smirked when the rambling stopped; it seemed like everyone caused the woman to ramble. However his amusement was quickly placed with confusion when cases were being discussed. Was Sam a cop of some sort?

" _Have_ _you_ _no faith in me, Felicity?_ " Sam quipped; his amusement was evident.

Felicity groaned, "I didn't mean it like that Sam, it's just partners in the field are a lot smarter of a game plan. I've had that thought drone thoroughly into me many times before." Her tone was teasing at the end; it had Roy questioning the idea of whether she was referring to the team or not and if she was, did Sam know about the team? It worried him a little.

Sam chuckled again over the line, " _Is that so?_ "

Felicity huffed, "Oh you know what I mean!" She had meant to remind Sam that he and Dean had repeatedly told her that rule since the beginning of their friendship but she knew (and he did too) that the Winchesters weren't the only ones to tell her that rule; Oliver and Diggle told her too (and those were always brought up during unconventional circumstances).

" _That I do,_ " Sam decided to cut her some slack, " _I'm at the Bunker because I finished the case, but it was a major one…a game-changer really._ " Roy could hear no amusement from Sam this time.

"How so?"

Sam sighed, " _It was connected to Abaddon._ "

Roy frowned at the odd name while Felicity gasped, "Oh my god! Was she there? Are you okay? What happened?"

Roy was tempted to go over to Felicity and ask her what was wrong because it was clear to him that she was on the verge of panicking. He only stopped himself because he wanted to know more and he feared that if she knew that he was listening then she may warn Sam and switch subjects on him.

" _Oh, okay. First off, breathe Felicity._ " Sam quickly advised which was soon followed by slow inhales and exhales from the man as he told her to do the same. He continued until Felicity was copying his relaxation technique. Once it was clear that her panics had reduced greatly, Sam continued, " _I'm fine. Secondly, I only faced Abaddon's minions. She wasn't there._ "

"Well that's a relief." Felicity grumbled as she slumped in her chair; the very mention of the Knight of Hell scared Felicity greatly.

Sam hummed out his agreement; the more he learned about Abaddon, the harder it was for him to push aside his fear of her. And he had a right to fear her; Abaddon was a high-ranking demon that was hand-picked by Lucifer himself to be trained by Cain, the Father of Murder. It didn't help that the Knight of Hell was aiming to make herself Queen of Hell.

Thinking with a clearer head, Felicity decided to get back on track. "So if she wasn't there then what was causing the bizarre behavior in town?"

Sam sighed again, " _They were taking souls from the human hosts._ "

Roy's eyes widened. Souls…they were talking about _human souls_. Roy's mind was racing over the new fact. While he was confused as to whom this Abaddon was and where Felicity's fear stemmed from, the mentions of souls was what brought the incredulous look to his face as he thought back to the theories that Felicity had been telling him earlier. _Is Sam the one she created the theory with?_ He wondered before another thought came to mind; _if it's meant to be a theory, then why are they talking as if its fact?_

Felicity frowned at the news, "Wait, they can do that?" From what she understood, souls were collected after the human vessel died. Once dead, the soul would crossover to whichever afterlife they were meant for; Heaven was the default for human souls but those who somehow greatly tarnished their souls (either through unforgivable acts or due to demon deals) would end up in Hell. Non-human souls ended up in Purgatory.

" _Apparently_ ," Sam hummed, " _Abaddon wants human souls so that she can turn them into demons. She thinks that demons made in this manner would make them more loyal to her and her army._ "

_Demons_ , Roy mouthed as his fingers froze over their trek across the arrow display. This conversation was getting more confusing by the minute for the young man.

"But what about the hosts without them?" Felicity asked while unaware of Roy's own confusion, "Would it differ if the separation was premature?"

She heard a few papers being shuffled around over the phone, " _It's the same M.O. They turn violent as they give into instincts. Some go insane after a while. Some have committed suicide shortly afterwards._ " She could hear a few more pieces being shuffled around as Sam spoke.

"But you stopped them right?" She didn't want to doubt that Sam had gotten the job done; she was just worried about _how_ _far_ he had gotten with it, "I mean that's what you meant when you said that you finished the case, right?" She quickly clarified after realizing just how her question could be perceived at a first once-over.

Sam didn't take any offense to the question. " _I only stopped one faction, Felicity. Other demons are pulling the same ploy in other towns all over the world._ " He explained with a sigh. He knew that while he stopped the demons in Illinois, it wasn't enough. Abaddon had bigger plans than what she had going on in the small Illinois town.

Felicity blinked as she was rendered speechless. "Talk about recruitment gone wrong." She said a few moments later.

From behind her, Roy shook his head while a disbelieving look settled on his face. Suicides. Souls. Demons. Abaddon. _What the hell did Felicity get herself into?_ Roy couldn't help the thought as he tried to process what he just overheard over the phone. His distracting cover at the weapon case was long forgotten as he tried to make sense of a phone call he couldn't help but eavesdrop on.

" _Exactly_."

Felicity pinched the bridge of her nose. "So what's next?"

Roy shifted and turned to look at her.

Sam released a tired sigh. " _Finding_ _Abaddon, that hasn't changed but we have to do it faster_. _Stopping her will hopefully stop her followers from enacting her orders._ " It wasn't anything new for Sam. Him and Dean have been trying to find Abaddon since they discovered she was still alive and trying to claim Hell as her kingdom. Finding Abaddon has become a difficult task for them to complete, especially now that they have the only weapon that could kill her permanently.

Felicity's mind was whirling. She was trying to make sense of Abaddon's new plan before she tried to figure out what their next move could be. "What can I do to help? I can still help, right?" She may not be a hunter like the Winchesters but she could be a helpful source of intel. With her technological know-how, Felicity knew that she could find any type of research as long as it was online. She could research the old fashion way but she was faster with a keyboard beneath her fingertips.

" _You have enough on your plate, Felicity. We'll take care of it._ " Sam appreciated the offer but he knew how much Felicity had on her plate back in Starling City.

Felicity huffed, "No offense Sam but I would think this takes priority considering how many people will suffer around the world if she wins."

Roy frowned at the thought.

" _But you have Slade coming after you._ " Sam pointed out with a groan but the mention of Slade caused Roy's eyes to widen and for his jaw to drop.

"Slade is only centered in one city," Felicity countered with a sigh, "Your problem is on a _global_ scale, you said so yourself. Stopping Slade won't matter if Abaddon wins. So I'll ask again, how can I help?" She countered more firmly than before.

When there was silence over the phone, Roy continued to stare at Felicity's back with a disbelieving look on his face. _Stopping Slade won't matter…_ He just couldn't believe it. Not only did she spill on the Slade situation to a non-Arrow team member but she had also gotten herself mixed up in something that sounded like it was far more dangerous than what the Arrow team was dealing with when it came to Slade.

_How does she get herself into these situations and still have a level-head about it?_ He couldn't help but wonder as he continued to stare at the petite woman. Sure she freaked out and had a mini panic attack but those were always initial yet natural reactions. Once Felicity got those reactions out of her system, she was calm and level-headed as she analyzed the situation. Roy thought she only did that during missions but it only occurred to him then that she used that in situations outside of Arrow-business. Somehow that made him appreciate her even more than before; he truly never gave her enough credit at first glance.

The sigh over the phone broke Roy out of his thoughts.

" _Can you find any similar cases like the one in Illinois? Finding the other factions could be something._ " Sam suggested after some time; he knew a losing argument when it came to Felicity. While Dean may argue it out with Felicity for some time, Sam was more willing to make compromises faster after seeing her point or defending his own to her.

Felicity found herself nodding even though Sam couldn't see her, "I'll get right on it."

She quickly grabbed the Bluetooth device from her drawer and attached it to her phone before she settled the new piece into her ear. Once that was set, she placed her phone on the desk before she got to work on her computer. Her fingers quickly flew over the keyboard as she started every search engine she had for the task.

"I'll see if there are any omens around the area too, just in case." She announced to Sam after she typed in the basic parameters she needed to set up for a demonic search. Sam listed off a few of the incidents that hadn't made the town's paper just so that she had more information to work with.

From Roy's spot, he quickly realized that the system she was working through wasn't one he'd seen her use before. He had thought that if he could glance at how she was searching for things then maybe he could return later to do the same thing but that plan was dashed when the screens showed unfamiliar searches and databases to him.

"You know," Felicity's fingers continued to fly over the keyboard, "you could use the factions to narrow down your search on her location."

Sam hummed in agreement, " _I know. We'll be more prepared next time._ "

"Right because you have the weapon that'll kill her for good and now you just need her location." Felicity rambled off without a second thought; she truly forgot that she wasn't alone in the Foundry. "I'll get started and call back if I find something." She typed in a few more parameters into the search engine.

" _Thanks Felicity_."

"No problem." A few moments later, her fingers froze over the keys. "Uhm Sam?"

" _Yeah?_ "

Felicity nibbled on her lower lip, "How's Dean doing?"

Roy's frowned at the change; _who was Dean?_

Sam sighed, " _I think he's still processing everything. Why?_ "

Felicity shrugged before she realized that Sam couldn't see her reaction. She quickly cleared her throat, "I'm just worried about him, that's all. I mean, he skipped out on a hunt which isn't like him at all." When Sam had called her a couple of days ago to give her a heads up on his latest hunt (just in case he needed her to backstop one of his FBI covers for him), he had mentioned that Dean wanted to stay behind in the bunker. The news of Dean taking a 'back seat' on a hunt had Felicity worried because that wasn't Dean's style…he's the type that _had_ to be on the front-lines no matter what. He was an action kind of guy.

" _He's connected to the Blade now Felicity, we don't know what to expect but he seems to be handling it._ " Sam explained even though, deep down, he shared Felicity's concerns for his brother. He just didn't want her to worry about Dean; Sam could worry enough about his brother for both he and Felicity.

_He's connected to the Blade? How does someone connect themselves with a piece of weaponry?_ Roy couldn't help but wonder the longer he listened in on the conversation. He was kind of surprised that his head hadn't exploded from all the confusing overload of information.

"Or he could be hiding it from you, from us, so that we don't worry. I mean he's sheltered news like that from us before, right?" She quickly argued, her voice rose up a little while doing so which caught Roy's immediate attention again.

Sam sighed again, " _I'll keep a closer eye on him, okay?_ "

"Okay."

" _I'll keep you updated and vice versa,_ " the hunter offered in hopes of getting Felicity's mind back on track and away from Dean.

Felicity exhaled deeply, "Deal. Bye Sam."

The youngest Winchester said his goodbyes before he hung up.

Felicity ended the call but instead of removing the Bluetooth piece, she took her glasses off and rubbed just underneath her eyes. If she wasn't wearing makeup, she would have rubbed the tiredness out of her eyes like she usually did in the mornings.

Roy slowly stepped behind Felicity once he noticed that she took her glasses off (which she rarely did). "Is everything okay?"

Felicity gasped; she had forgotten that Roy was in the Foundry with her. She had a quick retort about how everything was fine but when she put her glasses back on and looked at him, the concerned expression on his face had her faltering instead.

She ended up sighing and giving in, "Not really but my friend wanted to update me on the situation."

"Sam, right?" He figured that it was safe to ask since she did greet the caller at the beginning by using his name.

Felicity nodded before she turned her attention back to her computer screens. She tried to minimize her searches without being too obvious.

"Is he the one you mentioned earlier?" It was a guess on his part but he wanted to see what she would say.

The typing started to increase.

"Yeah, him and his brother. They can give you two sides of the soulless experience." She rambled off her response before she froze in her seat, her typing stopped along with it. Her eyes widened behind her glasses as she realized what she just confessed. "Crap, I wasn't supposed to say that."

Roy, on the other hand, had his own frozen figure to worry about as he looked at her with another disbelieving look on his face. "The whole soul talk wasn't a theory, was it?" It was one thing to think that there was some merit to the theory while eavesdropping on that phone call and it's another thing to be told that it's true. He just thought he was reading too much into what he was overhearing.

Felicity shook her head as she silently reprimanded herself. Usually her ramblings didn't lead to her slipping crucial secrets but her focus was on the searches and it just slip. On some level, she figured her subconscious trusted Roy and yet her subconscious seemed to have forgotten the memo about what information to trust Roy with. It seemed like once she shared her Mirakuru/Soul theory with him, it meant he was trustworthy for all the other supernatural-related secrets she had…to a point.

"Who was it?" Roy asked after he got passed his shock.

Felicity nibbled on her lower lip, as if doing so would prevent her from talking.

Roy noticed this and chuckled beneath his breath,"C'mon Smoak, don't close up on me now."

She groaned as she rubbed at her temples. She didn't know what to do. On the one hand if she told Roy the truth then maybe he would understand that her theory had been formed from factual knowledge that she acquired as opposed to it being all theorized and untested. On the other hand, it wasn't truly her story to tell and telling it opened Roy up to another world she didn't think he could handle at the moment. He was already struggling with the Mirakuru in him and dumping supernatural knowledge on him could overwhelm him. Then again, if he knew about the supernatural and that people have overcome such an impossible notion then it could give him hope.

She was at a loss of what to do. So she made a chance decision.

Felicity inhaled deeply before she blurted out the answer that would determine her path with Roy. "Sam was soulless for 18-months," her eyes widened at the realization that her subconscious went _that_ route with her babbles.

Roy's eyes widened in response; he hadn't expected that.

Felicity sighed; _there was no going back now_ , "His brother Dean watched him become a different person for the last 6-months before Dean got Sam's soul back."

"18-months?" Roy sputtered; it was as if the thought wasn't registering for him.

A crestfallen look appeared on her face as she nodded. "At first Dean didn't know that anything was wrong but eventually he learned that something was wrong with his brother. It was only after another friend of theirs, Cas, had confirmed for them that Sam's soul was missing."

Roy's confusion deepened at the mention of this Cas. _How does one tell if someone has their soul intact with them or not?_

Refusing to give Roy the opportunity to ask about Castiel, Felicity continued on, "Sam could feel physical pain and pleasure but none of the other emotions. He felt no connection towards his brother or to any of his memories. I mean he knew that Dean was his brother and yet he felt nothing towards him. The same goes for all his favorites and dislikes, he knew what they were and yet he didn't get why they mattered to him or not." She hurried to clarify as she remembered how she was told of Sam's soulless experience. But with those memories came the descriptions she got from Dean and it made her grateful that she never truly met Soulless-Sam in person.

"Without a soul, Sam was cutthroat, ruthless, calculating, menacing…he eliminated _anyone_ that got in his way." She turned around and looked back up at Roy and he could see the deep sadness in her eyes. "It got so bad that Sam was seconds away from killing a man he viewed as a second father to him so that his soul couldn't return to his body but thankfully Dean knocked him out in time. Sam wasn't Sam anymore. His soul made him who he was. Without it, he was just a stranger with Sam's face and memories." She lowered her gaze and turned back to her computers after that.

Roy stepped forward and allowed himself to lean against her table, his arms firmly crossed over his chest, "So that's why you know so much."

Felicity nodded as she continued to type. "The brothers didn't leave anything out. They wanted me to know the warning signs just in case I came across the situation again. I thought it would be unlikely but they wanted me to know." She looked to him out of the corner of her eye, "Knowledge is power and all that."

Roy couldn't help but agree to that statement. "Does Sam know about my situation?"

"We've theorized it together but," she paused for a moment, "him and Dean had more pressing matters to deal with."

"Is that what you're helping them out with?" He nudged his shoulder to the screen's direction, letting her know that he was aware of the searches she was currently running.

Felicity nodded again, "Sam's latest case actually revolved around soul snatching. He wanted me to canvas the web to see if similar cases have popped up." She explained as she narrowed down her searches that were done, she started pulling up the new stories from the Illinois town that Sam had just returned from.

"Someone's stealing human souls?" Roy frowned at the absurd thought, "That can actually happen?"

"It's a long story." She waved her hand in a dismissive manner, "Just know that it has to be stopped."

Roy turned around and leaned forward, placing his hands firmly on her desk. "What can I do to help?"

She gawked at the young man, "What?"

"Helping could be a decent enough distraction for me right now," he explained while his attention stayed on her computer screen.

"I guess…" she trailed off as she thought over the proposition some more. She wasn't sure if she should let him help her.

Sensing her hesitation, Roy tried another approach, "And if what you're saying about souls is true, then it's dangerous to have soulless people walking around, right?" He didn't mention Abaddon or demons or any of the other things he heard in that phone call; he'd rather have her be oblivious to his enhanced hearing for a little while longer.

She slowly nodded; she couldn't argue with that logic.

"So let me help you. You can't read everything by yourself. I mean you're good but even you need help once in a while." He teased at the end with a smirk forming on his face.

She gave him a grateful smile. "I'd appreciate it, Roy. Thank you."

He quickly returned the smile before he pulled up a chair. "So what should I be on the lookout for?" He asked as his eyes zeroed in on the screen.

Amused by his enthusiasm, she shook her head before she started to explain the basic signs she was looking for. They were in for a long night but Felicity was just glad that she didn't have to be alone in the Foundry as she did the search.

It was a welcomed change for her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Back Story:** In my mind, I thought this might have been the start of a solid Felicity/Roy friendship.
> 
>  
> 
> **Originally Published on FFN:**  
>  \- Part 1 = July 19, 2014  
> \- Part 2 = August 7, 2014


	9. Unwanted Visitor (Post S2 & S9)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Chapter Summary:** [Post 2x23  & 9x23] A month has passed since the events of the finale and Oliver gets unexpected visitor in the Foundry who is looking for Felicity.
> 
>    
>  **Spoiler(s):** everything up to SPN 9x23 ("Do You Believe in Miracles") and everything up to Arrow 2x23 ("Unthinkable").  
>  **Time Frame:** A month after both finales.
> 
> **Inspiration:** Both finales just begged for me to write something like this (since they both ruined my emotions).
> 
> **NOTE:** This  could be connected to the "Soulless Scenarios" story.

****  


* * *

  **"Unwanted Visitor"**

* * *

It has been a month since Starling City was attacked by Slade and his Mirakuru army. The city was slowly trying to build itself back up again as each day passed. Everyone was pitching in to help out, especially with the reorganization of the political system since Mayor Blood had died in the siege.

However, the Foundry was only occupied by two people that evening; Oliver and Laurel. Oliver was taking the opportunity to train Laurel since Sara had left with Nyssa.

Diggle was away with Lyla as they focused on the upcoming arrival of their baby.

Felicity had ended her time in the Foundry earlier than usual with claims that she wasn't feeling well. She immediately went home with Roy accompanying her; Oliver didn't think much of that.

"I think that's enough for tonight," Oliver stated as he straightened up and grabbed a nearby water bottle for him to consume. He was done sparring with a novice for the night.

Laurel nodded as she grabbed her towel. She patted herself down before she grabbed her bag, "I'm going to shower at home. Thanks again Ollie." She walked up to him and ran her hand down his arm before she got to his hand. When he didn't pull away (or grab her hand in response like she hoped), she squeezed it for a moment before she let go.

Oliver nodded before Laurel turned and made her way towards the stairwell.

Unfortunately, Oliver wasn't able to relax once he heard the main door's locking mechanism. Instead he heard a dark chuckle behind him. Oliver quickly removed his bow from the nearby table and turned around to face the source.

His arrow was pointed at…an unknown figure that was sitting in Felicity's chair. He was shrouded in darkness since Felicity's work station had no lights trained on it.

The figure chuckled again. "Have you really learned nothing?" He scoffed at the thought. "Pathetic."

Oliver's grip tightened around his bow, "Who the hell are you?"

The man snapped his fingers only to have the lights around him turn on, much to Oliver's surprise. Despite the surprise, the additional light allowed Oliver to see his intruder for the first time…it allowed him to see the flicker of surprise on his face before it was schooled to nothing. The man appeared to be a few years older than Oliver was. He had short brown hair and hard green eyes bearing into Oliver as he smirked. The look had Oliver thinking that this man knew more than he was telling and it unnerved the archer. He was dressed in a flannel blue button-down shirt, jeans and combat boots. He looked like a normal guy to Oliver but the vibe he was getting said otherwise.

"I'm not your brain, that's for sure otherwise you wouldn't be in this mess to begin with." The man taunted Oliver before he stood up, despite the arrow directed at his chest. He continued on as if there wasn't a weapon trained on him as he scanned the Foundry.

Oliver waited as he watched the man scan the room.

The man shook his head once he was done, "And I see no Felicity. Not surprised there."

Oliver tensed at the mention of Felicity's name. _Who the hell was this guy?_

"You really screwed up this time," the condescension in the man's tone was evident.

Oliver's knuckles turned white around his bow. "Who the hell are you and how do you know Felicity?!"

The man chuckled again, "Oh we go way back. Now where is she?"

"Like I'm going to tell you that," Oliver sneered at his opponent.

The man tilted his head as he stared at Oliver. After a moment, a smirk appeared on his face again. The sight unnerved Oliver.

"She left already, didn't she?"

Oliver tried not to react in any way but the man's smirk only grew.

"Tell me, how early did she cut out this time?" He crossed his arms over his chest as he waited for an answer. When Oliver didn't give one, the man's smugness grew. "Was it just after Laurel arrived?"

Oliver was stunned by the accurate guess (and by hearing Laurel's name from him). He hadn't thought anything of it but shortly after Laurel had arrived to the Foundry for her training session, Felicity had said that she wasn't feeling well so she packed up and went home to rest. Since neither Diggle nor Roy was on patrol, Oliver didn't think anything of it and let Felicity go home to rest. He figured that he could focus on Laurel's training this way; he owed it to Sara to make sure her sister was safe in her absence.

The man laughed when he saw the stunned look on the archer's face. "That's it isn't it? Can't say I blame her," He started to circle around Oliver until they were on opposite sides to where they first started, "From what I saw, it's like you and Sara all over again and we both know how Felicity reacted to that round."

Oliver's eyes narrowed; how did he know about that?

"But you know what's really keeping her away?" The man asked without missing a beat.

Oliver was itching to fire an arrow at the man but he was curious to hear what he had to say about Felicity. He wanted to know just how this dangerous man (who somehow turned his lights on without moving or touching them) was connected to her.

The man turned and stared straight at Oliver, "The very fact that you told her that _you_ _loved her_ only to be here in the Foundry with Laurel, the very girl you cheated on with her own sister."

Oliver was caught off guard when he heard those words from a stranger.

"I mean if you wanted a relationship to end, nothing says it better than hooking up with your girlfriend's _sister_." He continued with a laugh the more he thought about it.

This unnerved Oliver but he couldn't argue because that was his past. He did hook up with Sara because he didn't want to move in with Laurel. Thinking back on it now, he couldn't believe he did such a thing.

"Oh wait," the man paused as he gave Oliver a thoughtful look, "didn't you tell Felicity afterwards that your love confession was just a ploy to bait Slade?" Once he noticed the tension increase in Oliver's posture he continued with mock sympathy, "That must have hurt her a lot."

Oliver glared at the man. He couldn't figure out how this stranger knew these details about his life. Little did Oliver know that the man was getting it from Oliver himself.

The man was amused by Oliver's anger, "What? Did I hit a nerve?"

"Why are you here?" Oliver growled, "How could you possibly know that?"

The man shrugged as if what he revealed was common knowledge. "Initially I came to see Fee but seeing you with Laurel, well I just had to say something." Unknown to Oliver, the man had stayed in the shadows during the last ten minutes of Laurel's training.

"Even when it's not your business?" Oliver gritted through his teeth.

The man's eyes hardened, the previous amusement he had had vanished, "Fee is my business and your stupidity with the Lance sisters seems to harm Fee the most. Not some criminal, _you and those sisters_." He accused with a sneer.

The nickname and the accusation was the last straw. Oliver fired an arrow at the man.

Instead of the arrow embedding itself into the man's chest, its trajectory was altered with a wave of the man's hand. The arrow ended up in one of the side columns in the Foundry's structure.

Oliver stared wide eyed at the man as he lowered his bow, "What the hell are you?"

The man smirked before he closed his eyes, only to open them moments later to reveal their new pitch black color. There was no trace of the green irises that once colored his eyes.

Oliver backed up in shock. He never saw such a thing like it before.

The man chuckled as he blinked again, bringing his green eyes back. "I'm better." He took a step forward, "Now where is Fee?"

There's that nickname again, Oliver thought as he refused to answer him.

The man sighed, "Fine. Have it your way." He took out his phone and dialed in a number before he held it out.

The ringing resonated throughout the Foundry, signaling to Oliver that the phone was now on speaker.

" _Hello?_ " Oliver paled at the sound of Felicity's voice over the phone.

Oliver was about to shout to Felicity to hang up but the man just raised a finger to his mouth, gesturing for Oliver to be quiet, before he spoke, "Hey Fee, miss me?"

Felicity gasped causing Oliver to once again try to warn her but he was stunned to find that he couldn't say anything. He tried talking and shouting but no sound came from him. His wide eyes stared at the man, only to be greeted by an amused smirk as he gestured for Oliver to be quiet some more.

" _Dean?_ "

Oliver's attention cut straight to the phone. Does she know this man?

The man sighed, "Yeah Fee, it's me."

" _You're alive._ " Her voice was breathless, as if she couldn't believe who she was talking to. The observation confused Oliver.

"How else can I call?" Dean quipped with ease.

" _But Sam said…_ "

Dean rolled his eyes, "Sam needs to get off his high horse and let me go. It's not that hard. He's done it before." He sneered more towards the end. It gave Oliver the impression that there may be some bad blood between Dean and this Sam guy.

" _But he said you died._ " Oliver's eyes widened when he heard that.

Dean shrugged, "And now I'm back."

How can he be so nonchalant like that? Oliver wondered as he looked at the supposed dead man. Oliver understood what it was like for people to think that he was dead only for him to return but Felicity's tone suggested to him that it wasn't like Oliver's misunderstood 'death'.

" _As what though Dean?_ " Felicity's voice was small, as if she feared to ask such a question. " _Are you still the Dean that saves people or are you the Dean that people need to be saved from?_ "

"Wasn't I like that before?" Dean quipped again but Oliver saw how the man had tensed at her question.

Felicity sighed, " _Dean_."

Dean shook his head, "What do you think?"

" _Where are you?_ "

"Why? So you can rat my position out to Sam?" Dean scoffed at the thought, "No thanks sweetheart. I'm not letting my last good deed be turned around on me." Oliver frowned at that statement.

" _Please Dean, Sam can help you. We can help you, just let us._ " Felicity pleaded; she was still completely unaware that Oliver was listening to the call. He had stopped trying to get her attention the moment he figured out that Dean had somehow cancelled out all sound that Oliver could possibly make. It was like he was in a soundproof bubble where no one could hear him.

"There is no going back, Felicity. You and Sam just have to accept that." Dean told her through gritted teeth. It seemed like he was slowly on the edge of keeping his anger in check.

" _I won't accept that._ " Her tone was fierce, it was one that Oliver was acquainted with many times before, " _You are a fighter so fight against whatever that Mark is doing to you._ "

"The Mark is telling me not to care," Dean argued loudly, his voice ringing throughout the Foundry, "and right now, I'm fighting to care enough about _you_ to come and see you one last time before I give in and just say screw it and do what the hell the Mark wants me to do." Dean exhaled deeply, "And I got to tell you, it's tempting, especially after everything I've had to deal with, Felicity."

Felicity sighed, " _And I get that, I do, but you have to fight it._ "

"Why Fee?" Dean frowned at the phone, "I'm tired of fighting. I'm tired of sacrificing. I'm just tired." There was no anger in his voice and for the first time, Oliver could truly see the words reflected in the mysterious man before him.

Just who is this man?

"I was ready to die, I got my final words out to my brother and everything but the Mark just wouldn't let me go." Dean continued with a resigned look on his face, "It brought me back as the very thing I despise. The only upside to this whole damn thing is that I don't have to feel anything anymore." He sighed, as if he were truly tired of the situation, "Just let me go, Fee. Don't waste your life trying to fix me when you can't."

" _I can't do that._ " Felicity's voice was small yet it was firm. It reminded Oliver of when she told him to go after Slade when Thea was taken.

Dean shook his head, "Then I guess it was a mistake coming here."

" _No wait, Dean…_ "

"Goodbye Felicity." He hung up before she got the chance to say anything else.

Instead of pocketing the phone, Oliver watched as Dean crushed it to pieces with his bare hands. With the device no longer useable, Dean let the pieces fall to the ground before he looked up at Oliver. With a wave of his hand towards Oliver, he suddenly felt like this pressure had been lifted off of him. Oliver cleared his throat and when he found that the sound reverberated off the Foundry walls, he realized that the loss of pressure meant that whatever soundproof barrier that was around him was now gone.

Oliver watched as Dean leaned back against Felicity's desk, his arms crossed over his chest as he now stared at the phone's broken pieces.

"You care about her," Oliver slowly stated as he noticed the tension in Dean's mannerisms again. The tiredness he had seen before was no more.

Dean scoffed, "Weren't you just listening? I don't care anymore."

Oliver faltered at the blasé attitude but he ventured on, "Then why come?"

Dean looked up and glared at the archer, "Why do you think?" He snarled before he stood up. "Fix things with her before I come back with a vengeance and I will whether I care or not." He finished and with a snap of his fingers, Dean was gone…leaving Oliver alone with his thoughts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Demon-Dean Interpretation stems from what Jensen Ackles said in a Comic Con 2014 Interview:**  
>  \- Demon Dean doesn't deal with any of that stuff (being a tortured soul over what happened in season 9 between him and Sam). He's the same guy, but he doesn't care about anything.  
> \- "It's scary how little he cares about anything, even himself. Even the car." –Jensen  
> \- "There's nothing funny about this at all. ... He's carefree and careless." –Jensen  
>  ***I tried to bring out similarities between Demon-Dean and Cain because it's my prediction that out of any demon, Dean would probably take after Cain because Dean has Cain's legendary Mark***
> 
>  
> 
> **Fun Tidbit:** The 'What the hell are you?'/'I'm better' moment between Oliver/Dean was a little callback to Jensen Ackles being in the same situation in _Dark Angel_ 2x03 ("Proof of Purchase") when he was Alec McDowell. 
> 
>  
> 
> **Originally Published on FFN:** October 4, 2014


	10. Deal with the Demon (3x09 & Post S9)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Chapter Summary:** [Post 9x23][Tag to 3x09] During Oliver's fight with Ra's al Ghul, he gets an unexpected surprise that could save his life.
> 
>  
> 
> **Spoiler(s):** everything up to SPN 9x23 ("Do You Believe in Miracles") and everything up to Arrow 3x09 ("The Climb").  
>  **Time Frame:** This happens during the 3x09 canon fight scene between Oliver and Ra's al Ghul.
> 
> **Inspiration:** 3x09 just killed me...I just had to write this.
> 
> **NOTE:** This is connected to the previous story ("Unwanted Visitor").

****  


* * *

  **"Deal with the Demon"**

* * *

Oliver Queen found himself down on his knees, gripping at his throat after the hit he just received there, as Ra's al Ghul stood a few feet from him.

This was it.

Oliver was defenseless against the Demon's Head, the leader of the League of Assassins.

Ra's al Ghul shook his head as he looked down at the young man, "Don't be afraid my son. Death comes for us all." He took a step forward, his grip on the sword tightened as he prepared for the final blow. "You can only evade it for so long."

The Demon's Head thrust the blade forward, aiming for Oliver's heart, only to have the sword rebound before he could make contact. Before he could understand what had stopped him, another voice interrupted him.

"And he'll keep evading it for a little while longer," a deeper voice interrupted from behind Ra's al Ghul before he felt a piecing pain in his back. He gasped as the pain spread throughout his body. He faintly heard his daughter Nyssa shout to him (unknown to him that she was unable to get to him as the same force that stopped him from killing Oliver was stopping her from getting to him) as his grip on the sword went slack.

Ra's looked down at his chest, only to see an odd weapon protruding from it. If his brain wasn't so fuzzy, Ra's could have sworn that the weapon looked like a jawbone of an animal that was forged into a blade.

"Sorry I'm late," The attacker whispered into Ra's al Ghul's ear. "I couldn't locate _Ollie_ until he bled."

The odd weapon was twisted into his back; causing Ra's to gasp at the unwanted sensation. He could feel his attacker press up against the weapon before his arm that had a weird burn mark on it snaked around his neck, restraining him into place.

"You've taken your last life Ghul-y. Your reign as the Demon's Head is no more, for you are no demon at all." His attacker sneered into his ear and Ra's couldn't help but feel fear for the first time since he was a little boy.

Ra's tried to protest but all he could get out was a gurgle. He was starting to choke on his own blood.

"Now how does your farewell speech end?" His attacker paused but that didn't stop him from slowly twisting around the blade in his back, "Oh that's right, now consider this your _honorable_ _exit_ , given to you by a Knight of Hell, the demonic progeny of the Father of Murder himself." The attacker laughed and Ra's could feel the pressure around his neck tighten. "I'll see you in Hell."

Before Ra's al Ghul knew it, his attacker snapped his neck.

The attacker released his hold on the broken neck and withdrew his weapon from the corpse, causing it to fall to the ground with a thud.

A violent scream reverberated throughout the area.

The attacker turned around to the source, only to find Nyssa al Ghul banging her fists against the invisible force that was keeping her away. Aside from the initial anguished scream, her shouted threats fell on deaf ears.

The attacker chuckled, "I'll deal with you in a moment, Sweetheart. I have a favor to complete." He winked at her, which infuriated her even more, before he turned to face the panting Oliver Queen.

"You just couldn't help yourself, could you?" The attacker jibed as he looked down at Oliver.

Oliver gasped as he looked up at the man who killed the Demon's Head. He still couldn't speak after the hit Ra's had given him to his throat.

The attacker rolled his eyes, "Oh right."

With a snap of the attacker's fingers, Oliver found that he could breathe again, that the pain in his throat was gone. His side was still tender and open but he found that it wasn't bleeding anymore. Had he healed that wound too from the inside?

"Dean," Oliver rasped out as he looked up at the man that he had met in the Foundry a month after defeating Slade Wilson. He was the mysterious yet powerful man that was connected to Felicity. He was the man that told her to stop looking for him.

Dean Winchester smirked down at the fallen hero, "Hello again, Queen."

Oliver pursued his lips, "How?" He asked as he slowly stood up again, something he didn't know he'd do ever again before Dean appeared.

Dean rolled his eyes. "If I remember correctly, I told you to fix things with her and instead _you leave her_ for this." He evaded by bring up the situation at hand.

Oliver glared at the mention of Felicity, "I had to. You wouldn't understand."

Dean's eyes flashed black as he growled, coming toe to toe against the stubborn human. The temptation to strangle him was strong. "I understand a lot better than you think Oliver Queen." Dean nudged the bloody First Blade against Oliver's chest (as if it were his finger jabbing him and not a blade), "The only reason I saved your ass is because of Fee since she's lost so much already."

_Dean groaned when he found himself back in the Foundry. The former hunter had performed many summoning spells in his past but getting summoned himself was an odd sensation. Normally he found a way around the summoning spells since reawakening as a demon but when one spell achieved its goal, he wasn't surprised to find that Felicity had summoned him up with no traps in sight._

_"I told you to let me go, Felicity,"_ _Dean greeted with a sigh. He didn't want to see her._

_Felicity sighed as she moved around the makeshift altar she created for the spell. "I know but I have a favor to ask." She jumped right into it, knowing that she didn't have time to argue with Dean._

_Dean cocked an eyebrow at her, "Is that wise for you?"_

_Felicity shrugged, "Probably not but I don't know what else to do." Her voice wavered just a bit and he noticed._

_Taking pity on her, he stopped dodging. "What is it that you want?"_

_Felicity exhaled deeply before she looked Dean straight in the eyes, her determination was evident in her stare, "To save Oliver from Ra's al Ghul."_

_Dean turned away from her, hiding his frown, "I've heard of him; a mortal masquerading as a demonic assassin leader." He scoffed at the reputation, "How pathetic."_

_"Oliver went to challenge him in order to protect the city."_ _Felicity explained, "To protect his sister."_

_Dean's eyes flashed black before he whispered to see the moment she talked about._

_Images of Felicity's chats with Oliver about his ultimatum with the League of Assassins flooded Dean's head, courtesy of Felicity._

_It was a demonic trick he both liked and hated; the ability to access a vessel's memories. All demons can access the memories of the vessel they possess. The only difference for Dean was that he could access **any** human's memories if he wanted, like Abaddon was able to. It was a perk to being a Knight of Hell but unlike Abaddon (who needed part of her demonic essence inside the targeted vessel before she saw anything), Dean was able to access another person's memories more discreetly. He figured it was the work of the Mark. _

_Dean rolled his eyes, having them shift back to normal in the process, "How noble of him."_

_"Please Dean,"_ _Felicity took a step forward, not caring that she was willingly putting herself within arm's reach of the dangerous demon, "I know that you've succumbed to the Mark but I know that deep down you still care."_

_Dean refused to look at her._

_Felicity sighed, "If you save Oliver from death, I promise not to call you again."_

_Dean shifted his gaze back down to her; he was intrigued by her offer._

_"I'll let you go, like you asked. Just please save Oliver."_ _Her voice started to waver again, her eyes started to mist over, "I've already lost you. I can't lose him too."_

"I couldn't have her lose you too." Dean pulled the First Blade back as he stepped back, "Now show me what I want to see."

As Oliver questioned Dean about what he was talking about, Dean saw Oliver's memories over the last few days. The demon was done before Oliver could ask him anymore questions.

Dean blinked again causing his pitch black eyes to return to their normal green hue, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to finish cleaning up your mess."

Dean pivoted on his foot and headed towards the league members, leaving Oliver behind to collect his remaining bearings. Nyssa continued to shout (mutely) as she slashed her sword against the invisible barrier, forgoing her fists a while ago. Sarab (formerly Maseo, Oliver's handler in Hong Kong) stood behind her, far enough away so that he wasn't hit during any of her back-swings.

Dean chuckled at the sight before he waved his hand at Nyssa, which caused a force to throw her back and collide with the stone pillar. It knocked the air right out of her.

"You can fight all you want," Dean greeted the woman with a laugh as the previous barrier he set up around him and Oliver vanished, "you'll just end up like your father."

Nyssa glared at her father's killer and made a move to charge, only to find that she was stuck to the pillar. She could see nothing restraining her and yet she felt this force that was pushing her back into the pillar.

She looked to Sarab for some help but she saw that he was in the same predicament as her. Instead of being restrained to a pillar, Sarab couldn't move his body from where he stood. It was like he was a statue that could only move his head around.

Dean chuckled again as he saw the realization of their situation appear on the assassins' faces. "Now that we're all settled, I have a few things I need to clear up about your… _League_." He spat at the mention of their criminal organization. He turned his attention onto Nyssa, "So now with your father gone, is it correct to assume that you'll be leading the League now?"

"You won't get away with this." Nyssa growled out as she flicked her attention between his face and the weapon that killed her father.

Dean sighed, "That wasn't an answer." He raised his hand and clenched his fist; Nyssa gasped as she felt a tightening pressure around her heart. She looked up at him with wide eyes and he only looked back at her with a smirk. He unclenched his fist and lowered his hand; Nyssa panted for air. "Will you now be the one in charge of the League of Assassins?" Dean asked again.

"Yes," Nyssa managed to get out between breaths.

The demon nodded, "And with the death of Ra's al Ghul, that means all blood debts during his reigns are forgotten. Correct?"

Nyssa's eyes narrowed at him, "Yes."

Dean smirked, "Good. I'll like to change one thing though." He stepped towards her until he was toe to toe with her as she remained restrained against the stone pillar, "The debt Malcolm Merlyn has to the League remains intact. He is not to be absolved. He must pay for his betrayal."

Nyssa scoffed at the audacity of this killer to order her around, "Why should I listen to you?"

Dean chuckled darkly as he stepped closer to Nyssa, "Because I'm a Knight of Hell." His eyes flashed back to its pitch black form as he stared her down.

Nyssa gasped at the sight of his unnatural eyes. She tried to move away from him but the pillar kept her in place.

"And you can't kill me without killing yourself in the process. Even then, I remain victorious." He taunted before he stepped back. He blinked again, allowing his eyes to revert back to their original form. "And besides, Merlyn was the mastermind behind your precious Sara's death."

Nyssa flinched at the mention of her dead beloved.

He turned and started to pace. "Sure he had a puppet do his dirty work but still, he's the one that orchestrated the execution. And he was responsible for the deaths of over 500 innocent civilians." Dean continued as if he wasn't talking about a sensitive subject for the assassin. He turned and gave her a challenging look, "Are you seriously going to let him live because your father is dead?"

Nyssa's eyes narrowed at the thought. She wasn't going to let Malcolm Merlyn live another day for what he did to Sara.

The Knight of Hell was pleased by her glare, "That's what I thought. Merlyn remains an enemy to the League, yes?"

"Yes," Nyssa replied tersely.

Dean grinned at the news, "Awesome and while we're at it, Oliver Queen and those close to him remain untouched by the League."

Nyssa wanted to refuse such a claim since Oliver Queen had been nothing but a problem for the League since he's been on their radar but she was never given the chance. Dean had already raised his hand, in a way people usually told others to 'hang on a moment' when dealing with something else, before she could start. And even if she wanted to ignore the gesture, she found that she physically couldn't. She couldn't make a sound.

Dean smirked at Nyssa's inability to argue against him at the moment, giving him the opportunity to state his case to her.

"Failure to do so will result in my return and make no mistake Nyssa al Ghul," Any trace of amusement he previously had just vanished before her eyes, her father's killer wasn't kidding around anymore, "I will slaughter the _entire_ League without a second thought." Dean took a menacing step forward as he readied himself for the last portion of his threat, "And I will make sure that you will _never_ be reunited with Sara in the afterlife."

Nyssa gasped at such a thought. "You can't execute such a threat," she found herself saying before she realized that she could speak again.

Dean scoffed at the doubt, "I beg to differ. I'm pals with the King of Hell and I have an angel in my back pocket with the keys to Heaven." He wasn't going to tell her that he was currently on opposite sides to both Crowley and Castiel when it came to power. Dean's demonic status screwed up Crowley's structure in Hell while Castiel was trying everything he could to turn Dean back into a human (with Sam's help). But no human needed to know that.

"And if I'm feeling really malicious, then Purgatory is another option I could go with." The demon continued as if his thoughts never went on a tangent, "And I can say with absolute certainty that Hell and Purgatory are no picnic. It makes the League's training look like a cake walk compared to them."

Nyssa, Sarab and Oliver flinched at the very thought of Hell and Purgatory surpassing what they faced with the League of Assassins (or in Oliver's case, the extremely deadly associations he had with them).

"So if I want two souls separated Nyssa, I can make it happen," Dean stalked towards the restrained assassin again with a heated glare aimed at her. "Mark my words I can make it happen and have it stick for eternity. Do I make myself clear?" There was no arguing against his tone, it felt like it reverberated around them, like a demanding echo.

Nyssa slowly nodded, "Yes sir." She whispered as she lowered her head.

Dean stepped back and smiled, as if he were the cat that ate the canary. "Fantastic. Now spread the word. Starling City and Queen's associates are off limits from this day forward."

With a snap of his fingers, Nyssa was gone before his eyes. The demon had sent her back to Nanda Parbat.

Dean turned his head towards Sarab, "Where do your loyalties lie?" He questioned with a raised eyebrow.

Sarab looked between his leader's killer and his former friend before he kneeled down before the powerful man.

Dean chuckled, "Good choice." He dismissed Sarab with a wave of his hand, causing the assassin to vanish like Nyssa had moments before.

Oliver stared stunned at the spot that his former handler once was. He was so preoccupied by it that he didn't realize that Dean had returned to him until he felt a hard clap onto his shoulder.

Oliver snapped his attention back to the demon.

"Now are you ready to go home or would you rather climb down the mountain?" Dean pointed back to the way Oliver had arrived.

Oliver gave Dean a pointed look.

Dean rolled his eyes, "To Fee it is then."

With a snap of Dean's fingers, Oliver was clothed once again before Dean gripped his arm tightly, "After this, I'm done." The demon muttered before he and Oliver vanished from the mountain top.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Disclaimer:** Any recognizable dialogue is from Arrow 3x09 ("The Climb").
> 
> **My Interpretation of Demon Dean:**  
>  \- I think his power is second to Cain's (only because of experience) and that's because of the Mark of Cain that Dean has  
> \- With the First Blade, Dean can kill anything (King Crowley isn't immune)  
> \- The Mark of Cain prevents anyone from killing him if they don't wish to suffer the same fate...even then I think Dean would be brought back because of the Mark having its hold on Dean  
> \- As a Knight of Hell, I figured that Dean shared the same demonic abilities as Abaddon...only slightly altered  
> \- All regular demons have telekinesis so I figured Dean would have that too  
> \- All demons have access to their vessel's memories but for Dean I have that ability altered so that he can access anyone's (like Abaddon displayed in 8x12 but even then, Dean's version is altered from hers)  
> \- In regards to how Dean found Oliver, Felicity had given him a blood bag of Oliver's blood which he used his demonic powers on to location Oliver (not sure if demons can actual do that but Demon Dean can since we still don't know what Cain is capable of as a demon)
> 
>  
> 
> **Originally Published on FFN:** December 21, 2014


End file.
